For The Race
by LittleMewLugia
Summary: When Sam wishes he could do something for the Autobots in recompense for destroying the AllSpark, the energy left within him grants his wish in a way he never imagined.
1. Chapter 1

-1For The Race

Summary: When Sam wishes he could do something for the Autobots in recompense for destroying the AllSpark, the energy left within him grants his wish in a way he never imagined. Oneshot.

Rating: M for adult themes, threatened violence, and threatened non-con.

Disclaimer: Hasbro and DreamWorks/Paramount own Transformers. I have never claimed to own them, and never will.

For The Race

_Four months after the battle in Mission City._

Sam, Mikaela, and Bumblebee were sat in the Autobot's new base on Earth, which was a hangar and underground complex donated by the USA Military as a thank-you for helping them drive off the Decepticons earlier that year. There had been some discussion about this, and a few hairy moments when certain Army officials had bruited about the concept that the Autobots themselves could be considered a threat.

Thankfully, more sensible and cooler heads-among them Secretary of Defence Keller-had prevailed, and they had officially been welcomed as allies. They now had an official Autobot-human liaison, (a mechanic named Shaun Raven,) would soon have other people seconded to them, and this base had recently been completed, fitted out with all the stuff the Government and Army had figured that the Autobots would need, and a few things that the Autobots had requested and been granted.

Ratchet had just finished showing the two humans and their Autobot friend his brand-new and state-of-the-art medical bay, which consisted of one general injuries and repairs area, one ICU/serious injury unit, two side bays for on-going, long, and/or nonessential work, one large storage area, and one recharging area, containing five recharge units-two big enough for 'bots of Ironhide or Optimus size, the other three for Ratchet-sized and smaller 'bots.

The ICU and general medical area had two types of berth and equipment in each, plus refrigerated areas for storage of certain perishable substances, for they had been designed so that both humans and Autobots could be treated in them as necessary. Because Ratchet was twitchy about working on such small patients as humans, the Army had promised that a human medic was to be seconded to him, to help treat such patients without fearing he may injure them through ignorance. The medic and Ratchet would teach each other about their respective physiologies, and Shaun would be taught by them both, thus spreading the medical knowledge that might be required between three people. Shaun's daughter, a seventeen year old known as Fiona, had already proved herself capable of fetching and carrying human-sized instruments and small Autobot parts needed by Ratchet, and could shape up as an acceptable nurse with a little more training.

"So, now Cliffjumper, Prowl, Hound, and Mirage have arrived, and you've found that Jazz isn't as dead as you at first thought, that makes nine Autobots on Earth, and you're hoping some more might arrive? Are five recharge berths enough?" asked Mikaela, from Ratchet's new operating table, where she and Sam were sat for ease of talking to him face-to-face. He himself was sat opposite them, in a big chair that had been built to fit him. Bumblebee, for his part, was quite content to stand.

"At the moment, yes. While five recharge, the other four Autobots will be on duty." Ratchet explained. "Everybody will need to be more alert. We know some more Decepticons-at least four-have landed, so we are hoping more from our side will turn up. There is also room to build new recharge berths should more Autobots turn up and the need arises." Ratchet sighed. "However, we do not know how many of our old comrades remain alive. As dangerous as Wheeljack was with his experiments, and as annoying as the Twins were with their constant pranks, I could wish that they were here now. For all we know their husks could be drifting through space, or corroding on some planetary surface, as lifeless as that AllSpark fragment that Optimus picked from Megatron's chest. That, too, is something we will have to explain to any new arrivals. With the AllSpark gone, there is no chance of creating new Autobots, nor any chance of rebuilding and reviving those who have perished. We also cannot now restore Cybertron to what it was."

"Could the AllSpark do that?" asked Mikaela. "Could it bring back the dead?"

"We believe that when someone dies, their Spark goes back to the collective pool of energy." Ratchet explained. "Certain Autobots have been known to show a special affinity or connection with the AllSpark. Optimus is one, and we now know that Bumblebee is another. It has been passed down in legend that such individuals could communicate with the AllSpark and ask it to separate one or more individual's Sparks from the collective pool and place them in new or repaired bodies. They would be, in effect, reborn, or, as you put it, brought back from the dead. However, as the AllSpark is gone, so is that possibility." Once again, Ratchet sighed.

"Geez, I'm really sorry, Ratchet." said Sam, feeling guilty. "I feel so bad about that. Had I known how important to you it was, I would have thought twice about doing that. I feel awful now, like a murderer or something." Ratchet shook his head.

"No, Sam, you did the right thing at the time. If Megatron had gained control of the AllSpark, he would have thrown the whole universe into the Pit for personal gain and conquest. Better that it be destroyed than the Source of Life be used to cause death, enslavement, and destruction at his claws." He shook his head, an oddly human gesture: Sam wondered if it were one common to both Human and Cybertronian, or whether Ratchet had learned it since coming to Earth. "No, Sam, Mikaela, we must move on now, live for those who are alive, await those who are on their way. It is no good grieving for those who can not live again……or for those who will never be."

Sam's eyes prickled with tears at the sadness in Ratchet's voice. How would _he_ feel if he were told that there would be no more humans able to be born ever again? In essence, his actions had sentenced an entire race to extinction.

"Ratch, was the AllSpark the only way you could create new life? It seems a bit risky that your whole race relied on this one artefact. Where did it come from? If there's one, surely there are more?"

"If there are more, we do not know where they are. There are two main schools of thought. Firstly, religious theory states that the AllSpark was created by our 'God', Primus, distilled from His own essence, and it was done only once. Maybe if this is true, and we could find Primus, and explain, He might-_might_-create another, although that could just re-ignite the conflict, causing further loss of life."

"The second theory states that the AllSpark was the product of an alien race far beyond our understanding and that it was lost to it's makers, landing on Cybertron and causing our existence by a lucky accident. Whichever theory is correct-if either of them are-it is unlikely that we will gain a new AllSpark. However, to answer your first question, there is a second way by which Sparks can be created for new bodies, but for that, we would need a willing femme bot."

"A femme bot?" asked Sam. Among neither the Autobots nor the Decepticons had he seen anything that could be described as 'femme' about _any_ of them. It was almost as if Ratchet could read his mind, for he answered Sam's unspoken question.

"You've not seen a femme bot, Sam, and that's for a very good reason. When the AllSpark created Sparks, most of them are like me, Optimus, and Ironhide-what we term 'mech' Sparks. Male, if you like. Such Sparks could give life to the bodies they were placed in, but could not create new Sparks, or give life to anything else. However, every once in a while-somewhere between one in two hundred and one in five hundred Sparks, exact records were never kept-a femme Spark would be disgorged. These femme Sparks, if allowed to briefly combine with a mech Spark, could sometimes create a tiny Spark-or Sparkling if you like. If a femme bot carried it and nourished it with her own energy, in time it could be removed from her and placed in it's own body, as a new life in its own right."

"So-couldn't one of these femme bots have survived and be on her way here?" asked Sam.

"Theoretically, yes, and we all hope so, but I told you how rare it was that they came about in the first place. In my whole life, I only personally knew six. I fought with one back on Cybertron, she led our patrol. Her name was Arcee, we held the Decepticons at bay at Tyger Pax, where the AllSpark was hidden, although everyone else-including most of the Decepticons-believed it to be at Simfur, where Optimus had taken most of our other forces, including another femme, Elita-One, to make them _keep_ believing that." Ratchet almost smiled, and then sighed again.

"However, after we all had to split up to search, none of the femme bots have been heard from since. They may have been killed, or even worse, captured and used by the Decepticons. We cannot rely, Sam, on the hope that a femme bot will arrive to save us from extinction. Even if she does, she may not wish to, or be too scared to, and we would have to respect that. It would be a huge responsibility to lay on one set of shoulders."

"What did the femme bots look like? Like you? Or did they look different?" Sam asked. Ratchet sighed again.

"They were different Sam, very different. They were designed to be. Anyone bringing one up was so proud, because they were so special. This was Arcee, at Tyger Pax." He projected a hologram of a tall-looking, elegant and _very_ feminine looking Autobot. Sam gaped at the thin, long, shapely legs, large chest, long, slender delicate arms ending in elegant hands and the slightly haughty but definitely female-looking face, complete with shaped metal hair. She bore a large, dangerous looking bow on one of her narrow arms, but you couldn't mistake it-no, _her_-for anything _but _a female Autobot.

"The mech bodies were created so that each one was individual, but sometimes only in the face or the hands. Bodies of several different sizes were crafted for mechs, but only the faces, in general, were different, and some of the faces could be considered plain or even ugly, but femmes were so rare, and thus considered so special, that no two were alike in either face or body. Each femme body was constructed individually by craftsmechs, and there was never such a thing as an ugly femme. Great care was taken to make them all attractive, both in face and body, and all were given something else not given to mechs, to mark them as femme and therefore special-hair. Only metal shaped as hair would be, admittedly, but it was something else that made them both more desirable, and also set them apart." He frowned, and then continued.

"Strangely enough, despite the fact that many viewed mech-femme created Sparklings as sacrilegious, all femmes were given those big chests, with the room for a Sparkling to settle and be nurtured should the situation arise. Due to the widely-held view that it was sacrilegious, most femmes took some sort of steps to ensure it never happened, but I have heard of one or two Sparklings being created this way. Some questioned why, if it was sacrilegious, the AllSpark created femme bots at all, and no clear answer was given. Now I have my own theory, that it was a fail-safe on the part of the AllSpark."

"How do you mean?" asked Sam.

"From what Bumblebee has said, the AllSpark was not only alive, but intelligent. A few thousand years before the conflict exploded from small skirmishes to full-out war, it was recorded that there was an upswing in the amount of femme Sparks produced. Maybe the AllSpark somehow could see what was coming? However, it may well have been too little, too late. Even if they are out there, what would stop the Decepticons from capturing one, and using her as a substitute for the AllSpark? I think many femmes would choose to permanently offline themselves rather than go through _that._ That's if she wasn't worn out by Sparkling production before she reached that decision, _and _if they didn't make that route impossible for her, by disabling any weapons she had and putting her under constant guard."

Mikaela shuddered. "If I were a femme bot, I think _I__'__d_ permanently offline before letting Barricade or Starscream get their claws on me, too." she said. Ratchet nodded.

"You see why we cannot rely on them to save us from extinction? Not only would a femme bot need to get here and be willing, she'd be in constant danger from the Decepticons. Better that they all died than be forced to live under Decepticon captivity. However, none of our spies or bugs have picked up the merest hint that the Decepticons have a femme. Better that they stay well away than risk _that_." He sighed again, and then looked up.

"Well, I should start organising this place, I suppose, no point in moping over could-have-beens and should-be's. I must live for those of us who are alive, not grieve for those who have come and gone, or those who never will be."

'_If only there was something I could do, **anything** to change things, I would do it." _thought Sam. _'I wish I could because if I could save the Cybertronian race, I would. I would do **anything.**'_

'_Anything?' _came a small voice he thought was his own mind replying to him.

'_Yes, **anything.****"**_he confirmed.

'_Then let it be so.__'___the voice said. Sam was alarmed at this response, suddenly realising that this was _not_ his own thoughts, but something else. Something alive. Something intelligent. Something……_alien._

'_AllSpark?' _he said in his head.

'_Yes, I am the essence of what you called AllSpark.'_ it said. Before he could think anything more, Sam's vision exploded with a blinding white light at the same time as his hearing left him.

Ratchet had moved a tray of equipment to one of the wall-mounted shelves when he heard Sam gasp and Mikaela cry out. He turned.

Sam had stiffened, and his eyes were rolled back in his head. As he jerked, his back arching, Ratchet strode over towards the table, thinking that Sam was suffering some sort of fit. Reaching out to pick Sam up, Ratchet jerked his hands back as Sam's body was suddenly engulfed in a corona of painfully bright white light.


	2. Chapter 2

-1For The Race

Chapter Two

Ratchet and Mikaela both had to look away from Sam's suddenly brilliantly-glowing form. It was like putting magnesium in a flame. Ratchet had stopped his abortive grab for Sam, but as he saw, from the corner of his optic, the white glow that was Sam begin to expand, he grabbed for Mikaela, scooping her up off the table. As he retreated, he noticed he had gotten Mikaela off the table just in time: the glow suddenly engulfed the operating table. Bumblebee had also moved back, engaging all his scanning mechanisms.

"What's happening to Sam?" she asked, at only a slightly louder volume than normal, for although the light was fiercely bright, it was soundless.

"I do not know." Ratchet said. He noted that the incandescence that had engulfed Sam and his operating table had changed in it's appearance: it now had flecks and streaks of gold in it. "I dare not approach, nor do I dare let _you_ approach, Mikaela, in case it is inimical to one or both of us. We must stand here and wait to see what happens. I have never seen anything like it before."

Beside them, Bumblebee warbled in surprise. "My scans tell me that that is AllSpark Energy. However, it is more intense and more powerful than anything I have ever seen or experienced before."

"Sam pushed the AllSpark into Megatron's chest to destroy it." Mikaela said. "Could the AllSpark be killing Sam in retaliation?" asked Mikaela.

"No, Mikaela, the AllSpark prefers to _create _life, not destroy it." said Bumblebee. "It is not inherently bad, but even _it _realised that what happened in Mission City had to be." Mikaela blinked.

"How could you know that?" she asked.

"Ratchet told you I have a special connection with the AllSpark. I felt the AllSpark die when Sam did what he did, but as stated before, the AllSpark is intelligent, and very powerful. Had it seen another way, it would not have allowed itself to be destroyed. As it is, it seems something of it hid in Sam rather than be destroyed. What I do not know is why it is expressing itself now, or what it is doing to Sam." Bumblebee told her.

"What if Megatron's essence somehow corrupted it?" Mikaela asked. Once again, Bumblebee shook his head.

"No, I would feel it." he said "The energy is not corrupted. Whatever it is doing to Sam, it is not killing him."

"Can't you ask it what it _is_ doing to him?" asked Mikaela. "You say you have this special bond with it, so _use_ it!"

Bumblebee gave Mikaela a look at her fierce tone of voice, and for a moment she thought she had gone too far. Then he blinked and nodded.

"I will try." he told her. His optics dimmed as he tilted his head up, facing the brightness that hid Sam, spreading his hands, palm-out, fingers down. He stayed like that for a few minutes, then blinked again and turned to Mikaela and Ratchet.

"It only gave me a little time. It said that it is busy and that time is short. It said he said he'd do anything, and it's taken him up on that. It said it was reconfiguring him. It said-that it is for the race." Bumblebee sounded confused.

"Now what does it mean by _that?" _Ratchet said, bewildered.

Sam could not see anything beyond the white light, except the gold flashes, could not hear anything but the rush of blood through his veins, and after a while, even that faded, leaving only a quiet voice that was both male and female, not human or Cybertronian, very quiet, so quiet that he could not at first hear what it was saying. He strained his ears, and it slowly got louder, until he could hear what it was saying.

'_You will be reconfigured. You **must** be reconfigured, rebuilt, remade. You agreed to anything. The race must survive, it is for the race, you will be remade for the survival of the race.'_

Sam lost all track of time. Seconds or centuries could have passed and he would not have known. He could not feel any pain, but was aware that his arms and legs were being-_unmade_, was the only word for it, not there, and then a caressing, almost loving touch and sensation told him that they were back again, that somehow they had been _re_made, or '_reconfigured_', as the voice put it. Sam was aware of all this, but he quite honestly didn't really care. He felt that he was in no danger from this AllSpark essence, felt almost as one with it. He felt the same 'unmaking' of his body, and had he been aware that he still had a face, would have smiled.

Instead, he allowed himself to become lost in the sensation, as metal replaced flesh, and circuitry and motors and hydraulics replaced nerves and muscles and joints, all accompanied by this sensation, like the caress of a mother and the touch of a lover all rolled together and increased by a thousand fold.

Sam had only a vague awareness of what was happening to him, but was enjoying the sensation so much that he couldn't really care less.

When the sensation began to fade, Sam was almost disappointed.

Ratchet was the first to notice that the glow around Sam was shrinking and dissipating. He cautiously approached as the golden-white glow shrank further, although he noticed three things.

The twelve-foot tall figure left behind was not even remotely human, in fact he was positive it was a Cybertronian. Secondly, nothing remained of his operating table. And _thirdly_……

"Oh my _God_!" cried out Mikaela. "Is that…is that _Sam_?"

Ratchet's optics were nearly falling out of their sockets as they ran up and down the lines of Sam's new form, not quite _believing_ what they were seeing.

"Yes, that _is_ Sam." said Bumblebee in awe. "The AllSpark essence _did_ say he was being reconfigured."

"_That _is what you _call_ a major reconfiguration." Ratchet said in disbelief. He stared for a moment longer, and then seemed to snap out of it.

"Bumblebee, give me a hand here, take Sam's legs, I'll take the upper body, we can get Sam onto the table in the emergency med bay. I need to perform a scan."

Bumblebee didn't hesitate, picking up the legs of Sam's new form while Ratchet lifted the body and arms, gently using one hand to support the head. They moved Sam over to the emergency area, and Ratchet performed a scan.

"Well, that explains where my table went!" Ratchet exclaimed sourly. "Sam's new body weighs almost _exactly_ the same as that table did. The AllSpark energy used the table to create Sam's new body. How I'll explain it to the Army is _another_ thing."

"Is Sam okay?" Mikaela asked.

"Everything _seems _to show as functional. Needs onlining for the first time, that's all." Ratchet said, grabbing a pair of oversized leads, plugging them into a power supply and putting the other ends carefully on the power feeds under Sam's abdominal plates. "This'll brown out the nearest city, but it's not as if I'll be doing this very often. Stand back, both of you!"

Ratchet threw the power switch down all the way, and Sam's new body convulsed.

Sam was shaken from his dreams by a huge shock running through his body. He cried out and gasped as the shock released him, dropping him onto a hard metal surface.

"Sam? Sam, it's all right. Sam! You must respond!" he heard Ratchet's voice say.

"Ratchet?" he said, his voice sounding distinctly odd to his ears. He looked up, to see Ratchet looking down on him, with a oddly tender smile on his face.

"Good, it worked." he said.

"What _happened? _The AllSpark essence…..I don't know what it did to me, but I did answer that I'd do anything to change things for you Autobots. The problem is……I'm not sure _what_ I agreed to." Sam said. "Is it bad?"

"Sam, it depends on your point of view. The AllSpark has certainly completely remade you. There's certainly no way you could be considered even _remotely_ human any more. You're one of us now, a Cybertronian. Blue-eyed, don't worry." he said hurriedly.

Sam remembered the feeling of his body being unmade and remade. He raised his arm, looking at it in disbelief.

It was long, and silver, slim, and ended in an incredibly delicate-looking black hand, with four long, slender fingers with a matching thumb. The delicacy was a illusion: Sam could feel that that hand would possess a deceptively strong grip.

"The problem is, Sam, that it didn't just change your _species_." Ratchet began. He opened his mouth to continue, but was interrupted by another voice that came from the emergency medbay door.

"Where in the Matrix did _she_ come from, Ratchet? She's _beautiful!"_

Standing in the doorway, looking straight at Sam, optics wide and a with a silly grin on his face, was Ironhide.


	3. Chapter 3

-1For the Race

Chapter Three

A/N: Thanks to MeowthTwo/Anne Clothier for the loan of Dr Syn.

Sam's thoughts were whirling. The arm, Ironhide's stares…not to mention Ratchet's….and Ironhide's comments….. all added up to one shocking conclusion.

He was a _femme bot?_

A look down, taking in the big chest, the shapely legs, confirmed his fears. He put his hands up to his head and face, feeling shaped metal in an imitation of a hairstyle, a thin, smooth face coming down to a delicately pointed chin. He glanced down at the metal table he was lying on, and it was reflective enough to dispel any remaining doubts. The face looking back at him was silvery metal, with big blue optics, pleasingly shaped even to Sam's human tastes, looking back at him out of a face that was unmistakeably feminine.

"What's your name, pretty one?" Ironhide said softly to Sam. Somehow, without his notice, Ironhide had advanced two steps into the room. Two _big_ steps. He held out one of his large hands to Sam, palm up, as if about to take Sam's own hand. Ironhide stopped his advance, and looked at Ratchet again.

"Where did she come from, Ratchet? You haven't been out since taking Sam and Mikaela in here, and I'm sure she couldn't have sneaked past me at the gate, I was fully recharged yesterday and I wouldn't power down while on guard anyway! Or is Hound practicing his holograms in here?"

"No, Ironhide, it seems that Sam agreed to something he didn't quite understand the consequences of." While Ironhide was distracted, an increasingly panicky Sam, remembering Ratchet's comments about the loss of contact with the femme bots some time ago, and recalling from history how that sort of situation had affected the behaviour of human men, decided it was time to get out of the area _fast. _

He threw himself to one side, landing with a clatter on the floor. He tried to get to his feet, and couldn't stay on them.

The height, the mass, the shape of his limbs and body, the centre of gravity was all so different. He fell, tried to get up again, arms windmilling frantically, began to fall again, only to have his fall broken by two strong arms that lifted him up as easily as he might have lifted a child. Those arms were gently but firmly pinning his arms to his sides. Ratchet moved into his field of vision, so Sam was aware that it had to be Ironhide who held him, who was saying "Hey, easy there lady, don't be scared." He managed to shift Sam's body so he was cradled by one arm and hand, and that left Ironhide's other hand free to very gently stroke Sam's new femme hair, the smooth metal of his-or rather her-cheek. Then his arm returned to cradle his-no her-legs again.

"Ironhide, the AllSpark energy turned Sam into a femme Cybertronian, the same one you are holding, and you're scaring the Spark out of her! She was only onlined for the first time five minutes ago, so if you don't _mind_….?" Ratchet looked at the door pointedly.

Ironhide blinked.

"Wha…..woah, you're _Sam_?" he cried, staring at her as if she'd grown a new head.

"Y…yeah." said Sam.

"How old are you again?" asked Ironhide.

"She's seventeen human years old." Ratchet said. Sam cringed. Old enough for anything Ironhide wanted to do to be legal. However, Ironhide's eyes, if possible, got even wider.

"Why, you're barely a sparkling!" Ironhide said.

"Not to mention she's barely an hour into her body, adult though it is, and fifteen minutes into her first onlining!" Ratchet said. "Which makes her a sparkling even by _human_ standards!"

"Just onlined, you say?" Ironhide asked.

Ironhide shifted his grip on Sam, holding her even more securely. He strode purposefully out of the emergency med bay, with Ratchet saying "Just where do you think you're taking her?"

"Right where _you_ would." he said. "A recharge berth. Adult body or no, she'll need a recharge at some time, and perhaps twelve hours of _not_ having to think about this sudden change will do Sam the world of good! Once she wakes from recharge, perhaps we can have warned everybody else, and maybe we can _all_ sit down and discuss what this means for Sam and for us. For a start, I'm going to work on the security of this place. If Decepticons got in here, they'd be on her in a moment, and _they_ wouldn't worry about her age!"

Ironhide turned to look at Mikaela, who had came after him when he started walking away.

"Maybe you can help her to adjust? There must be some aspects of being a femme that span the species barrier? We don't have any femmes of our own to help her."

"I know. That's why he ended up like that in the first place!" Mikaela said bitterly. She, out of everybody, was the one finding Sam's change the hardest to come to terms with.

By now, Ironhide had reached the recharge berths. Transferring Sam to one arm again, he pulled the silver sheet off the recharge chamber's cushion. Throwing it to one side, he carefully put Sam down, than pulled the light silver sheet over her. "Autobots don't use blankets, but having been human, you may feel more secure with one." he said. "Will says Annabel does, at any rate. You should feel more like coping with the world once you come out of recharge, Sam." he said. Stooping over her, he gave her a light kiss on the forehead, and stroked her cheek with a finger. Sam looked up without speaking, optics wide and staring.

"'Sweet dreams' is, I believe, the human expression. I'll make sure everyone knows you are not to be bothered, and I'll be here to tell you anything that's happened when you wake up." He pushed down the lid of the recharge berth, standing over Sam as the mechanism powered up and began re-energising his new systems. Her optics stopped staring, and dimmed, and her face slackened as the recharge process shut her down.

Once Sam had entered recharge, the big 'bot didn't move, just stood there, watching, and Mikaela, standing nearby, was worried. This _wasn't_ like Ironhide! What was going _on_?

Mikaela had to shout three times to get Ironhide's attention. He crouched down, picked her up, and sat her atop Sam's recharge booth. She looked down at Sam. Sam seemed oddly peaceful looking, and when Mikaela looked up at Ironhide, he had the oddest look on his face. She wasn't good at reading mech faces. Was that…love….affection…and pride?….on his face?

"What's up, Ironhide?" she asked. He looked down at her as if noticing her for the first time.

"I have, with my partner, brought up four mechs from Sparks." he said. "I cared about them all and raised them as best I could, but every time we got given a mech Sparkling, I couldn't help feeling a little disappointed. I would have loved to have had the privilege of rearing a daughter. I kept hoping, but then the war happened, and the AllSpark got blasted off into space. Not only was there no AllSpark to get Sparks from, but there was no time or safety to raise them if there had been. There was only time for conflict and for blasting Decepticons, no time for dreams of raising a femme."

Ironhide sounded sad. Mikaela put a hand on Ironhide's. Mikaela watched as Ironhide looked down at Sam again, lost the bitter twist to his mouth and in his eyes.

"Perhaps I can share in caring for Sam and easing her transition if I can?" he said. "For a time, at least, it'll be the closest to having a daughter I'll get."

"I think you'll have to ask Sam permission to do that." said Mikaela. "By Cybertronian standards he may be a Sparkling, but by human standards, he's as near as damn an adult. The only adult things we _can't_ do at our age are drink and vote."

"I guess so." said Ironhide, sounding half-surprised and half-disappointed.

He stood by the recharge berth for another hour, before straightening up, and saying "Well, I'll get talking to other people, let them know what's going on, and then start getting the security at this place up to a decent standard!" He strode off purposefully, happy to have a job to do.

Mikaela stayed at the recharge booth for a further hour until Ratchet came over with Bumblebee, who said he was going to get some recharge time in before tomorrow dawned too. It seemed that Ratchet and Bumblebee had been talking: Bumblebee peered in at Sam's recharging form before climbing into a recharge berth himself.

Ratchet put out his hand and Mikaela wearily climbed into it.

"I've made you up one of the human beds in the med bay. You can stay there tonight. Yours and Sam's parental units have been informed that you'll be here for a bit, although Sam's parental units will need to be told at sometime. They have met Optimus, I believe, so at some point I will instruct Bumblebee to go and bring them here. Optimus, you, and I shall have to explain it to them, preferably with Sam there to back us up. Hopefully his syntax and the things he remembers will manage to persuade them that we are telling the truth and that their human son is now a Cybertronian daughter, but otherwise the same Sam they know and love."

Mikaela groaned. She had forgotten for a time that Sam had parents, and that they would be affected by this as much as she. How would she cope with their reaction as well as her own? She swallowed.

She would _have_ to cope. There was no other option available.

Ratchet put her down by a human-sized made-up bed, and she obligingly climbed in, but it was a long time before she got any

sleep.

Ironhide came back to the recharge bay after putting through a call to SecDef Keller for certain supplies he would need to improve the Base security. Keller promised Ironhide that the supplies would be with him by morning. Ironhide was chafing at the delay, but realised there was nothing more he could do now until morning. He decided to put himself in recharge for a few hours so he would be fresher to carry out the installation of the force-field and alarm system he was planning for tomorrow.

He looked in on Sam. She was lying curled under the blanket, three hours into her recharge. "Don't worry, Sam, no-one's going to hurt you with Daddy Ironhide around. After I finish my work tomorrow, they'll have trouble getting in in the first place! As they don't even know you exist in this form at the moment, you're safe."

Setting the dial on the timer to "4", he lay down and surrendered to the recharge process.

Nobody had noticed the small blinking light on the tiny device adhering to a pile of spares near the recharge chambers in the medbay. Nobody had noticed Frenzy plant it on one of the spares that was waiting outside the night before, and it had been carried into the Autobot base by an unsuspecting human soldier earlier that day.

The Decepticons were privy to everything that had been said in the medbay that day.

_One and a half hours earlier……_

"So, the Autobot base is not yet secured, and the AllSpark energy has turned that fleshling creature who destroyed it and Megatron into a femme." said Starscream to his companions, who were gathered around the receiver they had set up in a shabby, abandoned building in a seedier part of town. "If we gain control of her, we can breed a Decepticon army."

"But what good will Sparklings do against seasoned Autobot warriors?" asked Swindle, one of the new arrivals.

"Well, we don't have to leave them as blank slates, Swindle. We get her to bear the Sparklings, we steal the materials we need to make the bodies, we make sure the Sparklings go into fully-functioning adult bodies with the data they need already available, we teach them to fire their weapons and transfer between robot and vehicle forms, and of course we make sure their loyalties are to _us. _If we get enough Sparklings, sheer numbers will overwhelm the Autobots. Any femme Sparklings created can be put into adult bodies and bear more warriors for us. Think of it! A fleet of flyers and a squad of ground forces!" Starscream's eyes glittered with malice.

"We can obliterate those Autobots and grind the puny fleshling leaders who support and aid them into the ground. It will be sweet revenge! Think of how sweet it will be if the femme the Autobots think will _save_ them bears the army that will _destroy_ them! You heard that Ironhide. After tomorrow, it'll be much harder to get in. We must strike now, when they are at a disadvantage. Perhaps we can rid ourselves of a few before we get our army. Doctor Syn, how is Skywarp recovering from his bad landing?"

"He still can't fly, but he can stand and shoot." said the doctor, another of the new arrivals."

"Then you and he can stay here and guard the base, in case any Autobots or nosy fleshlings come across us. You can also construct a cell to keep the femme in." He turned to the others.

"Thundercracker, Barricade, Swindle, Frenzy and Soundwave, come with me! All of you will get a chance at her." he said. "However, as the leader, I get _my_ go first. Come! We attack in two hours!"


	4. Chapter 4

-1For the Race

Chapter Four

The Decepticon attack was brutal.

It was Thundercracker who landed inside the wall around the hangar, opened the gates, and blasted open the doors, allowing the land-based Decepticons in. Barricade and Swindle zoomed in, scattering Cliffjumper and Hound, who were on the doors. Soundwave released Frenzy, Laserbeak, and Ravage, who went to keep the Autobots distracted, while Thundercracker and Starscream tracked the listening device, for they knew that their objective was near wherever it was. Soundwave fell into step behind them.

Mikaela was awakened by the noise, and ran to find Ratchet.

He had heard the racket too, and had activated his bi-directional rotating saw.

"What's going on?" she whispered to him.

"Decepticons! It's the only thing it could be! I bet they've somehow found out about Sam! I'm the only thing standing between he and them-and Ironhide and Bumblebee are recharging in there. Unless you can waken them first, the 'cons will break open the chambers, slaughter them before they're fully aware, and take Sam! I'll hold the door here as long as I can, Mikaela." Ratchet replied

He picked her up and ran through to the recharge chamber, dumping her on top of Ironhide's. "Turn the dials counter-clockwise, Mikaela!" he yelled, dashing out as voices were heard approaching the med bay. "Turn them to zero, but not Sam's! She's safest where she is-under a locked canopy!" Then Mikaela heard Ratchet's saw speed up, and Starscream's voice saying "We've come for the femme!"

"Over my dead body!" yelled Ratchet.

"It will be my greatest pleasure to make that so, Autobot!" Starscream sneered. Mikaela shuddered.

They were out of time.

She turned the dial for Ironhide's berth to zero as instructed by Ratchet, ignoring the sounds of mech cries and crashing metal from the medbay. She realised there was only one way she could get to Bumblebee's chamber without getting down. Backing off, she took a flying leap.

She almost fell, but luck and sheer determination and terror got her staying on. She had just turned Bumblebee's dial to zero when Starscream and Thundercracker came running in.

She dropped unnoticed to the floor.

"Get the femme bot first, then we'll get rid of the Yellow Peril and Ironhead!" Starscream said. He looked in all the berths until he found the one containing the still-unaware Sam. He stood, regarding her for a moment. His eyes ran over her form, outlined by the thin fabric of the silver cover over her, settling on her face, still peaceful in repose. "She _is_ beautiful indeed, just as we overheard Ironhead saying she was." he murmured to himself. Then he raised his voice.

"Soundwave! Get over here with that magic finger of yours and unlock this chamber!"

Soundwave came over. The tip of his index finger flipped back, revealing a needle-thin probe that he inserted into the controls of the recharge chamber. With a click, the lock disengaged.

Starscream pulled open the canopy, reaching in and grabbing Sam, who started at the rude awakening, raising her head groggily. Her optics brightened as she came to full awareness, and then widened when she saw who had hold of her. She began to struggle against his grip, but he easily held her.

"No! Get off me!" she cried, her voice shrill with fear.

"Hello, Sam, I must say you've improved your appearance greatly since our last meeting." Starscream said to her. "Welcome to your new life as a Decepticon captive, and mother of our new army! You're coming with us!"

With this, Starscream lifted her fully out of the recharge berth, the silver covering falling to the floor as Sam kicked and struggled. "No!" she cried again

Sam struggled as hard as she could against Starscream, and cried out, but she was still a small bot, smaller even then Jazz, and Starscream was only a few feet shorter than Megatron had been: her struggles were futile. Starscream wrapped one powerful arm around her, pinioning her between it and his body, one hand holding her lower legs together to restrain them, effectively immobilising her. The other hand settled roughly, and too familiar, on her chest, fingers splaying and probing.

"Soundwave! See to it that the other two never revive!" Starscream commanded. He could feel where the catches that would release Sam's chest cavity were. Thinking only of how much he would enjoy getting Sam back to their base, he didn't notice that Soundwave did not reply.

Starscream turned to leave, but had only taken one step when he heard a voice, deep and menacing, speaking from behind him.

"_Take your filthy Decepticon hands off my daughter, Starscream!"_

Ironhide had roused from his recharge.

Starscream turned as he heard another crash of metal-on metal, almost overbalancing as Soundwave, his chest almost caved in, stumbled past him. Starscream could see only too well what had caused the damage to Soundwave's chest cavity: Ironhide's right fist, which was now heading for Starscream's own head.

Starscream was fast enough to dodge the fist, and then he turned and ran before Ironhide could use his other fist. With an incoherent roar of rage and terror, Ironhide set off in pursuit of the Decepticon leader, barely sparing Ratchet's crumpled form a glance as he ran past, and not even noticing Mikaela crouched by him.

Thundercracker, for his part, was trying to get out of the line of fire of Bumblebee's cannon, for although Bumblebee was smaller than he was, Thundercracker _knew_ that the scout's cannon packed a powerful wallop. He managed to slip out of the door and fled, Bumblebee in hot pursuit, He almost _did_ stop at the sight of the severely-damaged Ratchet, but Mikaela shouted "I'll see what I can do here! Get rid of the enemies so we can work in peace!" Bumblebee saw the sense in that, and resumed his pursuit of Thundercracker.

Although the Decepticons had had the initial advantage of surprise, the Autobots had quickly rallied: Bumblebee saw Soundwave retreating with his cassettes, Frenzy, Laserbeak, and Ravage, keeping pace. Mirage had several laser burns on his blue and white hide, evidence of Laserbeak's attentions, but he and Cliffjumper were doing a marvellous job of keeping Barricade face-down on the floor, Cliffjumper keeping his extending blade-shield arm out of harm's way and Mirage holding his feet off the ground as they ran in a circle, spinning him around on his chest-plates.

Hound was doing a fine job of keeping Swindle busy, all by himself-except for the nine holograms of himself. Swindle kept swinging this way and that, not knowing which one was real, fearing that to turn his back on the wrong one would mean a cannon-blast up the aft. Hound at that point tired of the game, stepping forward and blasting Swindle at point-blank range. As the holograms faded out, Swindle turned and fled, clutching at the blackened, dented plating Hound had shot.

As Mirage and Cliffjumper spun Barricade around faster and faster, pushing him down the corridor towards the door as they did, Starscream came by, (still holding a yelling and struggling Sam) with Ironhide still in hot pursuit, followed quickly by Thundercracker, who was still being pursued by Bumblebee.

As Starscream approached the pile of mechs, ready to fly over them and head for base, Prowl leaped in front of him, yelling "Let Sam go!"

"Get out of my way, Autobot weakling!" sneered Starscream, aiming a vicious kick at Prowl, which sent him flying into Mirage, who overbalanced and fell on top of Barricade. Barricade used this advantage to scramble up and flee after Soundwave and Swindle. However, this momentarily blocked Starscream's exit, and this time Ironhide's right fist _did_ connect with Starscream's back, making him stumble. Starscream flung his free arm back to keep his balance, and Ironhide grabbed it and began pulling back on it, twisting it as he did so.

This made Starscream cry out, for it _hurt_. "Thundercracker! Get him off me!" Starscream yelled. Thundercracker hesitated, debating whether to help Starscream or deal with Bumblebee.

"Please! You can have the femme straight after me if you do!" he cried. This seemed to decide it for Thundercracker, who went for Ironhide, who had to let go of Starscream to deal with Thundercracker. Ironhide had no choice: Thundercracker had wound one of his powerful arms under Ironhide's chin and, holding fast with his hand to the top of his head, was doing his best to rip Ironhide's head off.

Starscream cared about none of this: all he cared about was that he now had near enough of a clear run to the base exit. He heard a voice behind him call "Don't let him get away with Sam!" and smirked as he engaged his jets: he had never heard Optimus Prime, the oh-so-noble Autobot leader, sounding so _panicked_ before.

Optimus almost made it to Starscream as he lifted off and flew out: Starscream actually _felt_ Optimus' fingertips brush against his feet as he shot forward, still clasping Sam to him. Sam had managed to work one arm free, but this didn't bother Starscream.

"_You_ destroyed the AllSpark, it is only fitting that _you_ serve to _replace_ it for us!" he taunted the terrified Sam as he flew out of the hangar door and headed for the gates.


	5. Chapter 5

-1For The Race

Chapter Five

A/N:Starscream can get and stay airborne in robot form: he does so in the movie as he shreds a few F-22's during the Mission City battle.

Also, I hope the implied mech-mech pairing in here does not offend anybody. If there are (to take the lowest figure) 200 mechs for every femme, okay, one mech may pair up with the rare 1-in-every-200 femme, but what are the other 199 mechs to do? For this reason, I think homosexuality is not frowned on in the TF universe: in fact, I think it would be seen, in the circumstances, as a normal facet of mech life.

Now, on with the story…

Starscream suddenly felt Sam shove her free hand into his abdomen, except that it wasn't a hand anymore, but a gun barrel, he realised - too late. Sam discharged it a fraction before Starscream tried to grab it with his other hand and direct it away. Starscream wobbled dangerously and lost some altitude, but the damage was not enough to ground him. He directed his ruby gaze down at Sam.

"You will _pay_ for that back at my base!" he hissed. "I will not go easy with you. Oh, I'm not fool enough to break your beautiful _body_, but I know ways to break the strongest _mind!__"_

He was so intent on terrorizing Sam that he didn't see the two figures ahead, didn't even know they were there until the two mechs, one yellow and one red, leaped up at him, seized his wings/shoulders, one on each, and using their own momentum and strength as leverage on them, sent him into an uncontrolled spin.

Starscream cried out "_No! _Not you two again!" as the yellow mech said "Well look at that, Sideswipe, we just land on Earth and our old friend Starscream turns up to play. Remember me and Sides, Starscream? We've improved our jet-judo since then!"

"Get off me! Let me go!" cried Starscream, sounding panicked.

Then the red mech looked down, and saw her struggling to escape from Starscream's grip.

"Help me! Please!" she cried to them.

"Hold it, Sunny, he's got a gorgeous passenger who doesn't seem too happy to be along for the ride. You keep Screamer occupied, I'll rescue the femme in distress."

Swinging from Starscream's upper arm, the red mech swung over to Starscream's chest, grabbing onto one of the many struts available. He unpicked and bent back Starscream's fingers with his free hand, and said "Grab hold of my waist, I'll get you away!"

Sam used one arm to grab Sideswipe's waist, using her arm/cannon to shoot at Starscream's wrist, for her hips and upper legs were still pinned to Starscream's body by his lower arm. Starscream's reflexes forced him to pull his arm away, releasing Sam, and at the same time Sideswipe let go of Starscream's chest-strut, wrapping both arms around Sam and curling himself around her.

"Brace yourself, this is gonna be bumpy!" he called.

Sam felt them bounce twice, rattling all her component parts, but no part of _her _hit the ground. Then they came to a stop, and Sam was released from the grip of Sideswipe, who picked himself up. He was dented in several places, dirty, and scraped, but he still bent down, extending one hand to help Sam to her feet.

"We should get you back to the base, in case ol' Screamer tries again." He blinked. "Whoa, you don't even have a vehicle form! Come on, we'll find you one!"

"Um, I'm not sure how much that would help. It's a long story, but I've never transformed before." Sam said. "It looks effortless when Bumblebee and the others do it, but I don't even know _how_ to. Please don't ask me to explain, it's a complicated story - "

"- That we don't have time for, okay, it's dark enough for us to go in this form if we're careful not to draw attention to ourselves. Come on, I know the general direction." Sideswipe said.

Sideswipe headed off, pulling Sam behind him, for he had not released Sam's hand on pulling her to her feet, he had simply tucked it more comfortably within his own. Stumbling, - for she had still not learned properly how to walk, although having Sideswipe to hang on to meant she could stay upright, - Sam followed.

They heard a thud from behind them. Sam turned to look but Sideswipe pulled her on. "It's probably just Sunny bringing Starscream back down to earth. With a bit of luck, he'll shove some clods of dirt in his engines, that should slow him up a bit! It's not _fair_, I'm missing all the fun!" he grumbled. "Next time, _I _want to torment Screamer some more!"

At that moment something flew overhead. Sam started back, almost overbalancing, until she realised it was probably Thundercracker, fleeing from Optimus, Ironhide's and Bumblebee's wrath. Then two tall shapes, this time on the ground, loomed before them. Still highly-strung, Sam tried to pull back, not realising who they were until the tallest one spoke.

"Easy, Sam, you're safe now. Sideswipe, thank you for rescuing Sam here, I take it your twin, Sunstreaker, is not far off?" Optimus Prime asked.

"Probably giving Screamer a lesson in manners." said Sideswipe. He released Sam's hand as he began explaining the situation. Sam wavered, deprived of the only thing keeping her upright, and almost fell, but before she could, the other figure moved forwards, and Sam suddenly felt herself swept up into a fierce embrace. It was Ironhide.

"Sam! You're unharmed? If he's _hurt_ you……." Ironhide growled.

"Thanks to Sideswipe here and his brother, I'm fine." said Sam.

"I'm sorry that _I_ was unable to stop him. I was supposed to protect you, Sam, and I failed. I am not fit to act as your father." Ironhide said. Sam reached out to touch Ironhide's face, which as she was being held in Ironhide's embrace, was close enough for her to touch.

"Hey, you did your best, you had Starscream, Soundwave _and_ Thundercracker to deal with, and if you hadn't dealt with Soundwave, Starscream might have succeeded! It was the damage you did him that caused the others to want to flee!" Sam told Ironhide.

"You think so?" asked Ironhide.

"Yes. Thank you!" Sam said. She felt Ironhide's embrace tighten again.

"What was all that about being a father to me, and calling me your daughter earlier, when Starscream had me?" Sam asked, curious.

"Sam, I hope you do not mind, but I saw you as the daughter I never had a chance to bring up." Ironhide admitted. "I had a partner - another mech - who helped me raise four mech Sparklings, but I never had a chance to raise a femme Sparkling as I had hoped to, before the war began. Then my partner was killed by Decepticons, while I was away and unable to protect him." Ironhide hung his head, and Sam got the impression that had he been able to shed tears, he would have. "I failed to protect my partner. I could not allow myself to fail to protect you."

"I am so sorry to hear that, Ironhide." Sam said. "As for your offer, I'd appreciate it if you could teach me all the stuff my human father can't. Like using my weapons. The AllSpark essence gave me the knowledge today of how to power up my arm cannon-that's partly how I escaped from Starscream-but I need to know how to aim them. If you would act as my father, I'd like you to. There is so much about being a Cybertronian I don't know."

"Of course, Sam, I'll teach you whatever you need to know. When we get back to base, I'll teach you how to walk, and scan, and transform, but until then, I'll carry you back, and it'll have to wait until I have all the security measures up. I won't allow you to be put back in such danger again!"

"And about how to reproduce? After all, isn't that why I'm like this? I need to know _how_ I'm gonna help keep the race going."

Ironhide was sputtering, like any father, Sam figured, whose daughter had just asked him to explain the facts of life.

"Sam, you're just a sparkling! That isn't something you'll need to know for thousands of years yet!" Ironhide said. Sam sighed. She had been scared, by Ironhide's first reaction to her femme body, that Ironhide would want to mate with her, something that didn't seem so bad now,-probably the AllSpark essence working on her human fears?-but being treated as a baby was somehow worse.

"Ironhide, humans have a much shorter life span than Cybertronians, so we have to grow up faster, both physically and mentally. At seventeen, both male and female humans are considered old enough to marry, mate, and have young. Heck, at _sixteen_ it's legal, although the legality doesn't stop fourteen and fifteen year olds trying it out, and sometimes they can be even younger. The point is, I am, I believe Ratchet said, in an adult femme body, and mentally, I _do_ understand the concept and the responsibilities of reproduction." She sighed. "_Don__'__t_ tell me that you thought Mikaela and I had never done it?"

"I-I never even thought about it, that was between you and Mikaela." said Ironhide. "I guess my little femme has to be all grown up, I suppose it was too much to hope that you could be given the time like the other femmes. You are mentally, as you said, at the sub-adult stage."

"Mom told me that she was one of three sisters, and her father _hated_ seeing his little girls grow up." said Sam. He thought to himself, but didn't voice the thought, that if he _was_ able to mentally adjust, as the AllSpark essence must want him to, that Ironhide might soon have a _real_ daughter to bring up, but at the moment, even though Ironhide was not Sam's real father, the thought was making _her_ feel slightly ill, so it was probably not yet time to mention this to Ironhide.

Sam was saved from having to say anything by the return of the yellow mech, who was even more dented, scratched, and dirty than his brother.

"Well, Screamer won't be bothering anyone for a while." the yellow mech said with a smug grin. "Not with half the dropped foliage of the nearby trees shoved in his engines, and not with bent wings, either. I found an ant nest, and put some of that down his armour, so the tickling's going to drive him mad!" Sideswipe laughed.

"Sunsteaker, you're evil!" he said.

"Well, don't tell me he didn't deserve it, because he _did_!" Sunstreaker replied.

He turned to Sam.

"Pleased to be of assistance, lovely femme. I'm Sunstreaker, may I know your name?"

"Her name is Sam, and I'm acting as her father, so if you don't mind backing off for a bit, I'm taking her back to base to finish that recharge that Starscream interrupted, _and_ I'm standing by the chamber till the recharge is finished!" Ironhide said.

"I'm afraid that that may have to wait for a bit, Ironhide." said Optimus. "Your field medical skills are going to be needed. Ratchet got seriously injured trying to protect Sam, and giving Mikaela time to get you out of recharge, and without your skills, Ratchet may not survive."


	6. Chapter 6

For The Race

Chapter Six

The four mechs, Ironhide carrying Sam, set off back towards the Autobot base, all but Ironhide and Sam taking vehicle form. As it was still very early morning, this dark, and the location of the Autobot base was not too close to human habitations, there was fortunately nobody to see them.

As they came in, Bumblebee came out.

"Please hurry, Ironhide, Mirage and Prowl are doing the best that they can, but it may not be enough!" Ironhide merely grunted, following Bumblebee.

They had got Ratchet into the emergency area, on to the operating table, and Shaun Raven had arrived. He, Mikaela, Prowl and Mirage were working on Ratchet, but there were an awful lot of blackened circuits and holes in his armour. It looked like Starscream _had_ tried to end Ratchet's life.

Ironhide put Sam down, and went over, shaking his head.

"So much damage." he said. "I only know basic repairs."

Sam had an idea.

"Could any of you hook yourselves up to his processors, access his knowledge stores, and use his own knowledge to repair him?" Sam asked.

Everyone stared at her as if they had never seen her before. Of course, some of them _hadn__'__t_ seen him as a her before, but that was besides the point.

"It could be dangerous." Ironhide said. "If his memory is unstable, and his processors fail, he could drag the other 'bot's consciousness down with him."

"It's a chance though, isn't it?" Mirage said. "It's a chance I'm willing to take. Hook me up, Prowl, I've got narrow enough fingers to get to places Ironhide can't."

Prowl went and got the data leads, for everyone agreed that it was a chance worth taking. Mirage had the data leads plugged into the ports at the back of his head, and the other ends were plugged into the ports of Ratchet's. Mirage's optics dimmed, and then brightened, and then he was suddenly calling out for various tools, pieces of circuitry and grades of wires. His hands moved rapidly, removing and replacing burned-out wires, chips, and circuits, replacing metres of coolant line, and welding wires and circuitry together. He had oil brought and fed into Ratchet's abdominal fuel lines, to keep his energy levels up, and several hours later, he was welding the last of the injuries dealt Ratchet shut. Mirage removed the data feed lines.

"Now, we need to bring him back on line to see if this has worked." he said. Finding Ratchet's online button, Mirage pressed it.

Ratchet's optics flared, dimmed, flared brightly again, and then focused on the ceiling. Then he spoke.

"What the _frag_ am I doing on my own operating table? I hope whoever's been at me hasn't crossed any of my wires!"

"Well, Mirage hooked himself up to your processors to access the knowledge needed to fix you." Prowl said. Ratchet stared at Mirage with a scowl.

"Crazy aft-headed thing to do!" he growled. "You do know how dangerous that can be?" Mirage smiled and nodded.

"He's fine, back to the Ratchet we know. That is, if he can remember how he became a patient in the first place."

"_I__'__m_ the doctor, _I__'__ll_ do the diagnosing around here if you don't mind!" Ratchet said. Then his optics widened.

"Starscream-Thundercracker-Soundwave-they were _here! Sam! _Did they manage to get Sam? _Please_ tell me you _stopped_ them!" he said, grabbing Ironhide's arm.

"We stopped them, although it was a close thing." said Ironhide. He went over and lifted up Sam. "She's the one who suggested someone hooking themselves up to use your knowledge."

"She still needs to recharge, and you need to get that security system up before they try again!" Ratchet said. Ironhide looked torn.

"You're right, I _should_ get that up-but I don't want to leave Sam unguarded again!" he said.

"You won't have to." said Optimus' voice from the door. They all turned to look at him.

"Ironhide, we _need_ that security system, and if it takes me guarding Sam while you do it, then I shall. People can as easily see me in here as in my office." Optimus told him.

"Would you? I could work without worry, then." Ironhide said. Optimus nodded.

"_None_ of us want to risk Sam being taken to be used by the Decepticons. The sooner that system is up, the quicker we can reduce the risk of that happening. Take Sam to the recharge berth, watch him-er, _her_-settle, and then I'll stand watch while you set up the security system."

Ironhide didn't need telling twice, and Sam didn't protest, even though the sun had risen and it was daylight. She was feeling incredibly tired, and now that the emergency with Ratchet was over, her thoughts were free to remember the night's events, and realise how close she had come to becoming a replacement AllSpark for the Decepticons. She began to shake at the thought.

Ironhide picked her up, felt her shaking and became alarmed.

"Sam? Are you okay?"

"Ironhide-Starscream-he was…fumbling at my chest, feeling for something. I-I think he wanted to open my chest!"

"Very likely." said Ironhide. "That's how Cybertronians mate without the AllSpark to help, we merge Sparks. The Spark chamber resides in the chest, under the chest plates. The chest plates can be released in two ways-by the willing mind of the Cybertronian, or from the outside, by opening the catches. They tend to be very snugly-fitted, but they can be released in that way, by either the body's owner, or by another. When released by another, in a willing partnership, it can be very arousing-which often lessens the difficulty of opening it-, and often includes much caressing-what humans refer to as 'foreplay'-but unfortunately, there are those out there who will _take_ what they want." Ironhide said.

"So, the ugly truth raises its head" came Mikaela's voice. "Rape is, unfortunately, universal, it seems."

She stood before them, sweaty, greasy and dirty, with a few tendrils of hair that has escaped her hair band stuck to her face. She looked up at Sam.

"It's not always just about sex, either, Sam, it's about control. You made Starscream pissy in Mission City, it was the perfect way to get you back for the loss of face. Had there been more than one femme in the base, and you had been plain in comparison, it still would have been you he'd have gone for first, for that reason alone!" On thinking of this, Sam began shaking again.

"Mikaela, I don't think this is helping!" Ironhide said. Mikaela ignored him.

"Sam, look, I'm trying to warn you, at sometime Starscream is going to try again." Then Mikaela did address Ironhide.

"Don't you think it's better that she is _aware_ of that fact? So she can prepare for the time that she will need to fight back, devise strategies-preferably preventative ones? As a girl, and one with attitude and no pop around to protect me, I had to grow up thinking like that. Sam, being born male, with protective parents, never had to worry about that, but she-and _you_, Ironhide, for _Sam's_ sake-are going to have to _learn_ to think that way as quickly as you can." She put her hand up to her face, pushing back the hair stuck there, an unconscious gesture.

"Perhaps you are correct, but now she needs to recharge." Ironhide said. "We will all work to protect her, and yes, I can perhaps teach her to protect herself as much as possible too. Sam, do not fret, we will take steps to make you as safe as we can, and Optimus has promised to guard you while I get the security measures up."

Ironhide opened a recharge chamber and settled Sam in again, turning the dial to twelve again. "I will see you in twelve hours, Sam." he said. "By then, I hope that most of the security measures will be in place. Then I can teach you to walk, scan, transform, and aim your weapons." He cradled her cheek for a moment in one hand, and bent to kiss Sam on the forehead. Then he pushed down the canopy, once again waiting for her to settle before giving Optimus a nod, and setting off.

He bellowed for Mirage, Prowl, and Hound to assist him, for if he was going to get it all done in twelve hours, he would need help.

Optimus stood, and watched Sam as he had promised to, his face and gaze impassive but his processors working. It was going to take some getting used to for _all_ of them, to get used to Sam being a femme of their own race rather than a human male. It was Sam herself he was most worried about, for hers would be the greatest adjustment of all. There was no denying that the AllSpark Essence had done a wonderful job of making her highly desirable in looks, but they would all have to be careful in their reactions around her, lest their attentions scare her or put her off. She was, to their knowledge, the last chance of survival for their race.

They would have to hope that this could be achieved without infringing her freedom, or weirding her out so badly that she would never willingly co-operate. As important as saving the race was to Optimus, he determined that it would _never_ be at the expense of Sam's freedom of choice


	7. Chapter 7

For The Race.

Chapter Seven.

Sam took one step, then another, and then another, wobbling as Ironhide held her hands and gently backed off, never pulling and never moving too fast for his unsteady charge.

Sam was in Ratchet's med bay, feeling refreshed after her recharge. Both she and Ironhide (who had been standing by the recharge booth when Sam awoke) agreed it was time that she learned how to walk in her new body.

"You're doing great, Sam." the big weapons specialist encouraged.

"It's embarrassing, it's like being a baby again." said Sam.

"No, Sam, it's not quite the same thing." Mikaela said from somewhere around Sam's chest level: Mikaela had been placed on Ratchet's main operating table, the floor deemed too unsafe for her while Sam was still so unsteady on her feet.

"Human babies have to develop muscle tone and then learn everything from scratch. You know the _theory_, you just need to get used to your new shape and size. On that subject, while we're here, you're going through not much more than many human women do when they get pregnant, which alters their centre of gravity, and _they_ cope, so you will."

"Human women don't go from zero to nine months in the space of a few hours-whoops!" Sam said, fairly good naturedly, as she took a step and only Ironhide's hold on her hands kept her upright.

"This is _ridiculous_!" she said, less good-naturedly, as Ironhide pulled her up so she could regain her footing.

"Think of it as like riding a bike." Mikaela said. "It's all about balance!"

"Learning to do that took me _weeks_!" Sam retorted.

"It shouldn't take _that_ long, some of it should come naturally to you, you're not on an unfeeling piece of metal unconnected to your body, your feet and legs are full of sensors." Ratchet, who was stood nearby, commented. "Try and imagine you're just walking like normal, you may be trying too hard."

Sam felt like saying something rude, but managed to hold her vocal processor in check: they were all just trying to help.

"Sam, just think, once you've got the hang of this, you can learn to transform, and then we can go out on the road together, to race each other. I can show you lots of neat driving tricks, and how to make the best of your alt-form." said Bumblebee, who was also stood in the med bay.

Sam had to admit that the idea of getting to that stage was good, but first she had to _get_ there. Then she was beginning to overbalance again, but this time managed to regain her equilibrium with just a light pushing against Ironhide's hands.

"Well done! Seven steps before losing your balance that time, _and_ you regained it with minimal help!" Ironhide said. "At some point it'll be as natural as it always was for you. Remember when Sideswipe brought you over to us after rescuing you from Starscream? You were managing it then, albeit stumbling and slipping, both because you _had_ to, and because you weren't thinking about it."

Two hours later, Sam had to admit she had made progress. She was now walking beside Ironhide, who was holding just one of her hands. Her stumbling was reduced to a minimum, and she had only totally lost her balance once.

"Rest for a bit, then we'll get you walking between two bars to hold on to." said Ratchet. "In the meantime, Ironhide and I have been discussing some ideas to help you defend yourself better. Without altering your centre of gravity and mass too much, we think we can install two new pieces of weaponry; a weak electro-magnetic pulse generator, and sharp bladed weapons in your lower arms. Both would be used for close-range, if you were close to, or in contact with, your foes. For longer range defence, your cannons will help you keep enemies at bay, and Ironhide has ideas to increase the power of your cannons, and teach you how best to use them."

"We'll discuss that once you've had some fuel and a rest." Ironhide said. Sam nodded: she had no arguments about that. The sitting around was frustrating, but she was also frustrated at having to learn the art of walking again. Ironhide got her some fuel, showing her how to feed it into an intake valve on one side of her abdomen.

"Can't I just drink it through my mouth?" Sam asked. He was sure he'd seen them all intake fuel this way, at least once.

"Sure, if you want to waste some of the energy, and get inebriated in the process." said Ironhide with a grin. "I don't think it's do much for your balance and concentration, though. It's fun to take it that way, but we all fuel through the lower intake valve before doing anything involving using energy but needing co-ordination - like driving, or going into battle."

"Okay, point taken." said Sam. She giggled as she felt her abdominal tank getting full: it was an odd, tickling sensation. Ironhide stopped pouring it in.

"When it tickles, it means it's full. That's when you stop." Ironhide advised her, turning the lever to close the valve.

"Now, Sam, while you rest, I can offline you, and put in those extra weapons we were talking about. Is that okay by you?" asked Ratchet.

"Yeah, that's fine." Sam said, standing and walking over to Ratchet's main operating table: as he reached it, he swayed and grabbed on to it for balance.

"Hey, Sam, well done, you just walked five or six steps with no support at _all_ till you got here!" said Mikaela, who was stood on the operating table. Ratchet gently lifted and put Mikaela down, and helped lift Sam up on to it: the table was mounted at Ratchet's waist level, and as Sam was smaller even than Bumblebee, that put the table level with her chest.

Sam lay back as Ratchet's practiced fingers located and pressed her offline button: everything went fuzzy and then she was aware no more.

Awareness returned, and apart from the fact that Mikaela was asleep on one of Ratchet's instrument shelves, and the shadows in the room had changed, Sam might otherwise have thought no time had passed at all. Except, that was…

Except that something in her body and arms felt different. She sat up, lifting her hands up. Her hands and arms didn't _look_ any different, except maybe some slightly larger gaps at the wrist plate edges.

"Imagine you have knives in there." Ironhide told Sam. "Now imagine them coming out, and flex your wrists a bit. Sam did, and was astonished to see a half-meter-long, double-edged blade come out of each side of each of her wrists, one below the thumb, one from below the outer edge of her hand on the other side.

The blades were curved, the points almost parallel to her arms.

"The outer edges there can be used to slash, if you strike outwards or upwards, the inner edges can be used to pierce and gouge if you strike down and then pull in or down." Ironhide said. "Now, imagine them retracting." Sam did, and they did just that.

"That's how you use them." he explained. "Call on them in that way if you need them, put them away when you don't. I will instruct you in use of your EMP device now."

Ironhide moved forwards, grabbing Sam by the shoulders.

"Imagine you have lightning running through you and direct it in your mind at me." he said. Sam did so, and suddenly Ironhide crumpled to the ground. Ratchet moved over, ran a device over him, and pressed twice on Ironhide's online button. Ironhide looked up.

"It is not strong enough to kill most Cybertronians-but it will temporarily offline most of them for a time. Cybertronians are not as EMP sensitive as Earth mechanisms, but we all have a in-built EMP detector that automatically offlines the systems for a few minutes if an electro-magnetic pulse above a certain strength is detected, to prevent active systems taking damage." Ironhide explained. "It is a simple and non-lethal, but effective defence mechanism against close-contact, and should protect you from anything not shielded against such attacks."

"If it's so effective, why don't you _all_ have these EMP devices?" asked Sam.

"If we did, the Decepticons would only build in shielding against them, and we would lose any advantage this gave to any of our soldiers." Ironhide explained. "If we use them sparingly, only for those who might really need their protection, it is not worth it to the Decepticons to provide _all_ their soldiers with the shielding-which does slightly reduce speed, any extra armouring does. We _always _gave them to children who ended up with us, and to our femmes-Elita-One, Arcee, Moonracer, Firestar…" he sighed. "….and Chromia."

"Who's Chromia?" asked Sam, for there was something of regret and sorrow in Ironhide's tone.

"Chromia was a beautiful, lithe femme I befriended within the Autobot forces." Ironhide told Sam, his optics dimming with what Sam realised was grief. "She helped me get over the death of my first partner, the mech I told you about earlier."

"Chromia and I always said we'd raise a Sparkling or three when the war was over." he continued. "I haven't heard any news of her since we got separated, or of any of the others, for that matter. It is highly likely that they are all dead, or avoiding other Cybertronians for the reasons Ratchet explained to you earlier." He sighed again.

"Optimus must know how I feel about Chromia, but he keeps himself strong for us all. Elita-One - the leader of a team that hunted down Decepticons, the best team there was, and all the team members were femmes - was Optimus' Spark-mate, she saved his life once, almost died herself to do it. A bond forged _that_ strong is rarely broken by anything less than the death of one or both partners. Optimus remains hopeful that she lives - he says he'd know if she died - and I'd like to hope that that is true, but the longer we go not hearing anything from them or about them, the less likely it is that they either live, or are in any fit state to come and find us." Then he seemed to straighten up.

"That is the past now, and we cannot focus on what is gone, we must focus on what can and will be. Ratchet has fixed you up some bars, come, walk and lean on me, let's see if we can't have you walking unassisted within the next twelve hours." Ironhide tried to get up, only succeeding on the third try. He smiled sadly at Sam. "See why that device is so useful against an unshielded opponent?" he asked. Sam nodded.

Ironhide grinned suddenly." If Chromia had some spare time, and if I was doing something non urgent, and she thought I was working too hard, she'd use her EMP device on _me, _and then, while I was helpless to resist - not that I would have tried to resist much anyway - she'd set about relaxing me in the most effective way imaginable. We got no Sparklings from those liaisons - she was careful to take precautions - but she knew just how to ease my troubles, and oh, Primus, she was _good!_" Sam smiled herself as she saw Ironhide's optics flare briefly at the obviously pleasant memories he was recalling.

Ironhide walked Sam over to the bars, and Sam was determined to try and walk within the time Ironhide had specified. Sam had seen the earlier despair in Ironhide's optics, and she wanted to give him some sort of hope.

If Ironhide was right, then Sam may be the only femme left alive.

If that was the case, she was the Autobot's last hope.


	8. Chapter 8

For The Race

Chapter 8

By the next morning, Sam could not only walk, but was able to increase his speed, and dodge. Ironhide had insisted that Sam practice using her weapons - both melee and ranged - and had started her on rending, slashing, and firing at stationary cardboard targets. Once her proficiency with those had improved to Ironhide's satisfaction, some of the stationary targets had been replaced by mobile ones, in the shape of Hound's holograms.

Sam had also now taken on an alt-mode, (after being taught how to scan,) in the shape of a Chevy Aveo, which was a light metallic blue. Blue and silver suited Sam as a colour scheme. When Cliffjumper had laid optics on him, he'd locked up, staring, and promptly offlined. Ironhide, chuckling, had carried him off to Ratchet to be brought back to consciousness. 

Once Sam had managed to work out how to transform, he had been assigned the task of practicing transforming from bipedal form to car mode, and back again. She was to do this for ten minutes a day, every day, Ironhide informed her, until it became as natural to her as breathing had been when she was a human boy. Sam did not think this excessive, and agreed to comply.

She had also been helped by Hound to produce an authentic-looking holoform. It seemed to make sense that her holoform be of her original human male self, and she had managed to get it looking authentic, although she had not yet learned to make it seem solid upon being touched. However, even the realism of its look came in handy later on.

It was at a time when Sam was practicing staying in car form, something Sam, who was still rather fidgety as an Autobot, found particularly difficult. She heard the approaching vehicle first, and focused all her sensory equipment on the gate, where it would enter. She heard Ironhide nervously allow entry, and then she saw her human father's green Porsche enter, with both Ron and Judy Witwicky sat within. His Spark flickered nervously: what were _they_ doing _here_?

Then she recalled how much time had passed: they knew she had come here - when she was still a he, of course - and must have been concerned about her non-return and lack of contact over several days. They also knew the location of the Autobot base, so must have come to investigate. Well, this wasn't going to be easay, by any means, but this would, she thought, be the best way. Databursting for Ratchet, she activated her holoform.

The car stopped. Her parents got out.

"Sam, there you are!" said Judy, moving over. Sam made the holoform raise its hands to stop her mother hugging 'him'. She didn't really want to talk as her voice sounded nothing like it had when she'd been human and male either.

It was Ratchet who saved her at just the right moment, coming out and greeting her parents, with Optimus right behind him. Sam was relieved that Ratchet realised that he might need both himself and Optimus to discuss the situation, that to deal with his parents, the two diplomatically trained 'bots on the base might both be required. Ratchet data burst Sam to instruct her to stay in disguise and keep the holoform on until he said otherwise, then turned to Ron and Judy and began explaining the situation, but sensibly omitting Starscream's attempt to 'botnap Sam.

Both his parents' faces reflected confusion and disbelief.

"What do you mean, 'your human son is now your Cybertronian daughter?' That doesn't make any _sense_!"

"How can my son be one of _you_? He's human! He's right over there, and he still looks male to _me_!" Judy said, backing up Ron, who nodded. Ratchet tried once again to explain, with Optimus backing her up, but Judy shook her head in denial.

"He's right there, I can see him with my own eyes." she said, indicating the holoform. "Is this your idea of a joke?"

"I'm afraid not." said Ratchet. Then he addressed Sam.

"Sam, turn off the holoform, and assume bipedal form, please."

Sam did as Ratchet asked, watching her parents' faces for reaction as she unfolded into her twelve-foot high form, still small by Autobot standards, but twice the height of her father. The reaction of her parents was exactly what she thought it would be: disbelief and denial.

"You're _not _our Sam, if this is a joke, it's a pretty sick one." Ron stated. "Now cut the crap and tell us what's happened to our boy. He's been out of contact for _days_ now!"

"Look, look, Ratchet's telling the truth." Sam said, stepping forward and crouching so she was almost eye-to-optic with her parents." "Look, do you remember when Simmons came to the house, and you threatened to beat the crap out of the S-7 agents with my baseball bat? Do you remember when they took that reading-'14 rads' they said. Do you remember me telling you off for putting girl jewellery on a boy dog, and you told me it was his 'bling?' I could tell you many more things, things only our family would know. What do I need to do to prove it to you?" Sam then proceeded to relate several anecdotes which were only known to her parents and herself. After the third and fourth, Ron's shoulders sagged, and he sighed.

"Okay, I'm as convinced as I can be-under the circumstances. It's going to take some getting used to, but why weren't we contacted before now, at least to be reassured that you're okay? Why didn't Optimus, or Mikaela, or Ratchet contact us? _Anything_ could have happened to you for all we knew, especially with those Decepticon creatures around. What has been happening anyway, it doesn't take four days to learn how to walk, surely!"

Sam sighed: her parents would have to be told about the Decepticon attack on the base: better they find out now, intentionally, from her rather than from Mikaela, herself, or someone else by accident at an unguarded moment.

"Well, I've been learning how to fight, too, Mom, Dad." she said, showing first her blades and then her cannons.

"Why?" asked Judy. "They're not expecting you to fight, surely, if that Cube thingy is gone? What is there left to fight for?"

This was the bit Sam had been dreading.

"Starscream, the leader of the Decepticons, is nasty enough and unstable enough to fight on for the sake of his grudges against the Autobots alone." said Sam. "He has another reason to keep fighting now, which is why I need weapons. The AllSpark Cube, which Ratchet told me was how their race reproduced, may be gone, but there _is_ another method that exists." Sam said. 

"A spark-merge between a mech and a femme Spark can create a third Spark-an offspring, or 'sparkling', if you will." Ratchet said. "To our knowledge, Sam is now the only femme bot of our kind left. Starscream has ambitions to bredd himself a Decepticon army, and if Sam's the only femme bot….." Ratchet tailed off, and Sam picked up where he's finished.

"Starscream will fight to obtain _me_." she said.

"He had better not try!" threatened Judy, and Ron, too, looked fierce.

"He already has." Sam said. Before they could interrupt, and ask how and when, Ratchet described the Decepticon's attack on the base, and then Sam detailed how she'd been grabbed by Starscream, who had taken off with her, and then how she'd been rescued by Sideswipe and Sunstreaker, who had only been there to help by a happy coincidence.

As Sam had related this, her parents' expressions had got grimmer and grimmer, his mother's eyes going diamond-hard, her mouth flattening into a thin, hard line, and Ron's fists had clenched until his knuckles had gone white.

"If I see that Starscream creature, I _will_ beat the _crap_ out of him, I swear!" Judy growled.

"I'll help you!" said Ron. "How DARE he try to rape our daughter!" am shuttered her optics briefly: they had accepted the change in his status relatively easily, he thought.

"Uh-Mum, Dad, he'd probably _laugh_ if you tried, he'd probably step on you. That's if he didn't die first-of laughter, he's about six times your height!" Sam cautioned them, although when he thought about his mother facing off against Starscream, he _almost _felt sorry for Starscream.

"Look, I've got Optimus, Ratchet, the Twins, Hound, Mirage, Prowl, Bluestreak, Cliffjumper, Jazz, my adopted Cybertronian father Ironhide, and, of course, Bumblebee to help defend me. He didn't succeed last time and he _won't_ succeed again, not with my weapons, Ironhide's security arrangements, and a good twelve Autobots to help protect me. Ironhide's sort of adopted me as his daughter, he's the one who let you in, Dad, you saw his cannons, surely, do you _really_ think he'd let Starscream get at me? He's built in a self-defence mechanism for me, too." Sam said, and then explained to his family about the EMP device.

Sam's Dad sighed, and rolled his eyes.

"There was me thinking that raising one normal human boy would be complicated. I had no idea, did I? Okay, Sam, let's go inside. I need to know if there is anything I can do to help."

"Yes, let's." Judy said, She looked up at Ratchet. 

"Do you have any human-consumable substances in there, particularly alcoholic ones? I think I need a drink."

"Seconded." sighed Ron. "A _strong_ one."

Ratchet chuckled, and led them inside.


	9. Chapter 9

For The Race.

Chapter Nine.

**Two Years Later.**

"Hey, Bee!" called Sam. "I think I pulled something in that last race, do you think you could come and give me one of your back massages? I know Cliffjumper does the best ones, because he taught you, but you know as much as I do that he'll ask me out again, and I could really do with a rub-down _without_ having to fend him off, or let him down gently again. He knows everyone has to wait till I'm ready, but it doesn't stop him asking when he sees me, and I really don't feel up to facing his eager hopeful reaction today." she explained.

"Do you want me to say something to him? Is he coming on to heavy, or trying to pressure you?" asked Bumblebee.

"No, it's not that, I just don't feel like facing him _today_. I'm just tired, and want a back massage that doesn't invariably end with "Are you ready to go on another date yet, because I know a place where we could watch a gorgeous sunset?" He means well, he doesn't want to pressure me, but I would just like one day where I _don't_ feel like I'm kicking a puppy."

"Kicking a puppy? What do you mean?" asked Bumblebee. "I don't see any young canines around, particularly not around Cliffjumper. We all try to avoid canines since you warned us that the males tend to use anything upright, and preferably metal, to lubricate up as a scent marker."

Sam chuckled at that.

"I mean that he's so eager, and friendly, and tries to be nice, but he's trying too hard. I'm not ready for him yet, but every time I have to say so, I feel bad. I _know_ he's gonna look at me as if to say 'What am I doing wrong?' when it's not necessarily just him, it's _me _as well, me not being ready for him yet. It's stupid, I know, but it always makes me feel like I've done something wrong-or as if I've kicked a puppy for just being friendly."

"I see." said Bumblebee, and Sam hoped Bumblebee was being truthful, because she didn't know if she could think of a better way to explain it. "I don't mind giving you a back massage, Sam." Bumblebee said.

Bumblebee was officially still Sam's guardian, although all the Autobots took it upon themselves to help look out for Sam. Sam chuckled again, this time at the memory of the last time Starscream had come looking for a chance to steal her a year previously. Strangely enough, it had been Sunstreaker and Sideswipe who had foiled his plans with jet-judo again. They had brought him down fairly near the Autobot base.

It had been Starscream's _very_ bad luck that Judy had been visiting the Autobot base that day, to pick up the duranium-alloy 'whacking-stick' Ironhide had promised to make for her. He had made the promise in jest, although he had dutifully made it for her, as promised when she held him to his word. He would never forget the sight of Sunny and Sides holding Starscream down, and letting his mother loose on him to 'test' it…..

Strangely enough, he'd not tried again since.

Sam had actually adapted better to her changed circumstances, and although she heard the voice of the Essence in her head only rarely now, she was sure that it had played a big part in her mental adjustment.

Sam had gone on "first dates"-which were taken as a given that there would be nothing overly intimate, usually involving just talking to each other, and if they both wanted to, some cuddling and caressing-with _all_ of the mechs in the base now, _including_ Optimus, Ironhide and Bumblebee.

There had been only eleven mechs at the base at first, but due to further landings, that number had increased to eighteen. There was a tactician called Prowl, a scientist called Wheeljack, a security expert called Red Alert, another warrior-type called Inferno (which Sam found funny, for as a fire engine, his alt-mode would put out fires, not start or worsen them), another medic called First Aid ("Thank Primus! With this workload I _need_ some help!" Ratchet had said-and immediately foisted two battered Twins on First Aid to patch up), a talkative mech called Bluestreak, and a flying-type called Powerglide, whom Sam found a bit too full of himself for her liking.

Sam had found his first date with Prowl a bit disconcerting, not just because he was at a loss for what to say to the taciturn tactician, but also because Prowl's alt mode-a Police car-was just too much a reminder of his encounter with Barricade when he had still been human. Sam hoped to get to the point where seeing Prowl _didn't_ make him double check to make sure it _was_ Prowl, because he didn't want to hurt his feelings (which Sam was sure _did_ exist somewhere, despite what some of the other mechs said.) Until then, it seemed that Prowl's friendship with Jazz was keeping Prowl from noticing Sam's nervousness around him.

They reached Sam's room, and Sam lay face-down on her rest pallet, and sighed as Bumblebee spread his big smooth hands over Sam's neck and back and began rubbing, making sure none of her plating was sticking or catching, lifting it carefully to free any possible trapped wiring that might be causing Sam stiffness or pain. Bumblebee slid as hand under her plating, feeling for kinked wires and carefully, gently straightening them.

Sam was still Sam only because he and everyone else was so used to her being Sam that even when she chose a more Cybertronian name for herself-Lightracer-they all still forgot, and called her Sam, and in the end she stopped correcting them, for truth be told, she was more used to - and was happier - being called Sam.

Sam and Bumblebee were still very close friends, in some ways closer than some lovers, and as such, Bumblebee had never made a move on Sam, although Sam knew for a fact that Bumblebee had joined every other mech on the Base in accessing and reading the section Ratchet's medical computer on Cybertronian femme-based reproduction - the hows and whys. She grinned at the thought, because she herself had availed herself of the chance to read up on the subject.

At first, the information had not been so freely or readily available to anyone but Ratchet - after all, on Cybertron, not only had femme-based reproduction been unnecessary but actively discouraged - but after three requests from (rather embarrassed, admittedly) mechs for the information, Ratchet had placed it on the computer and put a marker on it that made it obvious to find by anyone who was looking. He had also left that file unlocked, and linked it to every other terminal on the base, so the mechs wishing to know more could do so without having to face the embarrassment of going to the med bay and having to ask Ratchet if they could use his terminal. Ratchet knew that those sort of pressures could _really_ cramp a mech's style.

Sam stretched languidly under Bumblebee's ministrations, sighing with the relief that her scout friend's touch brought. She turned over, and, as he had done many times before, Bumblebee gave Sam's front the same professional treatment as he had her back, lifting the plating, straightening the wires, and making sure the joins were free, sliding his hands up to give her shoulders a rub, making sure the joints moved freely. She shuttered her optics, shuddering slightly in pleasure at the touch of Bumblebee's gentle digits on her hide.

As Bumblebee leaned over Sam to properly check Sam's shoulder and neck joins, Sam felt an indescribable, unusual surge of affection towards Bumblebee, unusual in that it was a surge of affection that was more than just the platonic feelings of a friend to another friend.

Unable to stop herself acting on the unfamiliar emotions, and not really caring at that point, Sam semi-straightened, elevating her head and body far enough off the rest pallet to plant a loving kiss on Bumblebee's speaker-grille.

Author's Note: Do I type up a small interlude detailing Judy's encounter with Starscream as described earlier, or no? You choose!


	10. Chapter 10

For The Race

Chapter Ten

Bumblebee's reaction was quite unexpected.

He dropped his hands to the floor and pushed back, flying back about ten feet from Sam, landing in a wary crouch, optics wide.

"S-Sam?" he asked, staring. "Wh-what are you _doing_?" Sam pushed herself up to a seated position, confused by Bumblebee's actions.

"That was a_ kiss_, Bumblebee, on the nearest thing you have to a mouth. I've kissed you before, Bee, as a human, on the fingers or the cheek, as a friend, so I_ know_ you know what a kiss is. Why do you need to_ ask_, all of a sudden?

Sam noticed that Bumblebee was shaking, a small tremor running through his frame. Could it be that it was _Bumblebee_ who was not ready for this? Bumblebee, who had known him as a human as well as a Cybertronian femme? Sam hoped he'd not just inadvertently ruined things.

"But-but-Sam, this is wrong!" Bumblebee said. Sam's optics shuttered briefly.

"Why, 'Bee? We've been friends for years, why shouldn't we try getting closer? You have as much right as anyone else, and, if you're ready, I would like to go a bit further." Sam explained, for the thought of getting intimate with Bumblebee, as described in Ratchet's texts, had Sam's Spark flickering faster in anticipation. Whatever Cybertronians had instead of hormones were just as effective, for the last time Sam had felt like this, it was when she had last been intimate with Mikaela.

"Sam-you should be doing this with Optimus, not me, not your first time!" Bumblebee said.

Sam's head began whirling.

"Are you telling me that Optimus has told you all that _he's_ to be allowed to go with me _first_? He has no _right_! Of all the _devious-"_ Bumblebee cut off Sam's angry tirade before he could go any further.

"_No_, Sam, Optimus is the one who specified that things must go at _your_ pace, with _whom_ you want to, _when_ you want to. He's _not_ like Starscream, he _wouldn't_ invoke Leader's Privilege over you like that!" Now, Sam noticed, Bumblebee seemed angry that he had supposed that at all.

Sam sat back. "Come closer, Bumblebee, and let's discuss this both sitting down. There is still so much I don't understand, and one of them is your reaction to me. The other, is why you're saying I should be going with_ Optimus_ my first time, when Optimus _himself _has said it's _my_ choice, and _you_ are who I want to go with first. If you're not ready, 'Bee, I understand, and I'm sorry to cause distress." Sam said.

"Sam, the first time for any mech or femme, we believe, should be _special._ If your first time is treated roughly, carelessly, or ineptly, then it will affect you for the rest of your life. It may put you off, or you may become tense whenever you do it again, making it uncomfortable for you every time. If your first time, however, is with a mech who is gentle, experienced, careful, and knows all the right places to touch, your first experience will be pleasurable, and you should know how joyful it is." Bumblebee sighed, and crawled over so that he was sat opposite Sam. He leaned forwards, trying to convey something he felt it was important that Sam know.

"We call it 'teaching', Sam. It was common for a family unit to employ a personal teacher during peacetime, and in wartime, when we were all in units, teaching was often entrusted to a superior officer, someone who could inspire confidence in people, and had experience of interfacing and Spark-sex themselves." Bumblebee looked up at Sam.

"Sam, I'm not experienced, and Optimus has experience of both mechs _and_ femmes. He was often a favoured teacher, I'm sure he could teach you well, teach you how to go about it in the right way, and what a joy it is when done right." Bumblebee gave Sam a frank gaze.

"I_ know_ Optimus is a more than competent teacher, it was Ironhide who suggested that Optimus teach_ me_." Bumblebee's optics briefly shuttered. "Primus, that was a_ lovely _experience." Bumblebee stated, and despite Bumblebee's lack of a mouth, Sam could hear the satisfied smile in Bumblebee's voice.

"Hey, waitwaitwait_wait_, 'Bee, you mean you and Optimus actually-but Bumblebee, you're the _youngest!_ Isn't Optimus - well - _older?"_ Sam said. "Couldn't he have waited for you to -well- get a bit _older_ first?" said Sam, not quite believing what she had just heard.

"Weren't _you_ the one who got torqued at being treated like a sparkling by Ironhide on just this subject?" asked Bumblebee. "_I_ don't like being treated like a Sparkling about this by you, either, Sam, _especially_ not as you are quite a few millennia younger than I. By_ our_ standards, your Spark is barely loose of the AllSpark, has barely settled in it's casing, yet _you_ want to start interfacing and Spark-merging now, so don't accuse _me_ of being too _young,_ Sam!" Bumblebee realised an edge of anger had crept into his voice, and moderated it.

"Look, Sam, I understand human culture and misunderstandings may be coming into play here, but maybe if I tell you that I _asked_ Ironhide for teaching, and he recommended Optimus, maybe that will ease your worries? It's not something a Cybertronian _has_ to do once they come of adulthood, rather something they _ask_ for when they feel ready." His tone turned playful.

"I asked Ironhide to suggest a good teacher. He suggested Optimus, and I went along with his recommendation. I could have asked Ironhide to teach me himself, but as my parental unit equivalent, we both may have felt uncomfortable. In any case, Ironhide is three times older than Optimus, and then some! So, Optimus has the experience, but it _didn't_ feel like I was interfacing with my grandancestor!" Bumblebee explained.

Sam burst out laughing at that.

"Okay, human cultural taboos notwithstanding, and my own cockiness left out of the equation, the point is, Bumblebee, I don't _want_ Optimus to teach me, I want to be with _you_. Humans don't have the same teaching system your people have, they're used to trying, failing, and trying again. One bad experience doesn't leave us - that is,_ them_ - scared that there's no chance of improvement." Sam sighed. "I'm not explaining this well, am I? Let me try it from a different angle."

Sam shifted position, so she was sitting by Bumblebee's side, and looked at him.

"Do you remember exactly what you were taught by Optimus? In detail, I mean?" she asked.

"Why, yes, our memories are not as leaky as those of humans, although they're not infallible. If I wanted, I could play back those memories in real time, and enjoy the experience in my head all over again." Bumblebee explained.

"Then, why don't _you _teach_ me_ what Optimus taught _you_, the _way_ he taught you? Surely he taught you what tends to work, and how to please your partner? Do to me what he did to you, and you tell me as well what_ you_ like." Sam said.

"But mech-mech pairings have differences to mech-femme pairings, Sam." Bumblebee said, laying a hand on Sam's arm. "Femmes have different sensitive areas to mechs, and Optimus never taught me where many of them were." Bumblebee told Sam.

"Then take a hint from humans." Sam said. "Go slow where you're not sure, and experiment. Ask me what feels good, and I can let you know-in one way or another!" said Sam." she smiled at Bumblebee.

"If you're not ready, then we'll drop the subject and let it go for now. It's not as if the race is in imminent danger of dying out!" Sam said.

"It-it's not that I'm not ready Sam, I'm just scared of messing things up, of hurting you." Bumblebee said. He looked up, and Sam saw the longing in Bumblebee's optics that she was sure was reflected in her own.

"Well, I'm willing to take that risk. If it doesn't go right, we try it again. Try, Bumblebee, if you're ready, _please_, try with me what Optimus did with you."

Bumblebee's answer was to shift around to Sam's other side, spread his legs out, and gently pull Sam face-up into his arms, supporting her head and upper body, left arm under shoulders, Sam's head in the crook of his elbow. He used his other hand to delicately trace a finger down Sam's cheeks, first one, then the other, gazing into her optics intently. Then he used two fingers, one either side, and then moved them randomly and gently over Sam's face, tracing her mouth and optic ridges and cheeks and faceplates gently.

"Is this alright?" asked Bumblebee as he kneaded the optic ridges, and Sam's optics half-shuttered.

"Mmm, yes Bumblebee, that's lovely." Sam sighed. Bumblebee allowed his hand to sweep back over her moulded 'hair', and Sam sighed again. Bumblebee's hand glided with more confidence down the side of Sam's neck, caressing the edges of the neck/torso juncture, and Sam arched, sighing, and her optics shuttered all the way.

"Bumblebee, what's the difference between interfacing and Spark-sex, or isn't there one?" Sam asked.

"It is true that some use the term interchangeably, Sam, but Ratchet says that Spark-sex is the physical union of the Spark-energy, and interfacing, although it can be used to mean a Sparkmerge, is more correctly used to describe a two-way linkup via each other's dataports, to share and exchange the emotions a couple are feeling. It's a highly intimate thing to do, and is not done lightly. The couple have to trust each other, or it just causes interference and pain. That is one thing that has to be done by ourselves, and usually only starts years into a close bond. A teacher/student bond is not strong enough to sustain a proper interface."

Bumblebee's hand had not stopped moving during this explanation, and Sam groaned and twisted as Bumblebee looped his hand under her back, ran his fingers lightly down her spinal stricture, right down to where her body bifurcated into her legs. The hand cupped, clasping at and stroking down one of the legs as Sam, helping him to keep the contact, bent her knee and raised the leg up towards her body. Bumblebee reached the end of the leg, and repeated the caress, this time clasping and stroking down the other leg, and this time grasping and rubbing at the foot-ends.

Sam suddenly realised that Bumblebee had crossed his legs and had swung her around, her shoulders in the hollow between his knees, her head resting against his lower abdomen, and Bumblebee was now stroking down her arms, and then traced back up to her shoulders. Her Spark was burning, felt as though it wanted to burst out of her chest. Sam cried out involuntarily as a shudder ran through her, and Sam felt Bumblebee grab her by the shoulders, turn her while cradling her upper body in one arm.

"Sam! _Are you all right?"_ asked Bumblebee. Sam, unable to speak, nodded, optics still fully shuttered.

"Will you permit me to touch your chest, Sam?" Bumblebee asked, and Sam detected a note of anxiety in Bumblebee's voice. She nodded again.

Y-yes." she managed to say.

"Sam, listen, stroke my chest, can you do that?" Bumblebee asked. Sam's response was to do that, and she felt Bumblebee stroke down her own chest-plates, felt him find and release catches on her own chest, as he trilled to her much as he had to the AllSpark in the Hoover Dam. Sam's own fingers found similar catches on Bumblebee's chest, and as she explored them, Bumblebee said "Yes, Sam, that's right, gently pull on them and open them, you're doing fine

Sam did so, finding the catches surprisingly loose, and then Bumblebee was gently lifting her up, one arm supporting her aft, the other around her shoulders, and as the plating the catches had been keeping shut folded back and away, Bumblebee gently pulled Sam to his chest.

There was a blaze of bright light, and Sam felt the most indescribable pleasure run through her entire body as she felt the fierce burning of her own Spark joined by the fierce burning of another, the contact not intensifying the burning but rather seeming to wash it down with a cooling energy, leaving her feeling sated and satisfied and happy, oh God so much pleasure like she'd never in her whole short life as either a Cybertronian or a human felt before and _oh God, Bee….!_

She arched in Bee's arms, and shrieked, higher and louder and longer than she had ever thought possible, and them abruptly went limp in Bumblebee's arms. Bumblebee stared at her suddenly limp neck, tilted head, and darkened optics, and gently lay her on the floor with a feeling of surprised awe, closing his chest panel as hers slid shut of its own accord.

Smiling, he tilted her forward, did something at her back, lay her back down, and waited, reliving every delicious moment of his Sparkmerge with Sam.

Sam's optics unshuttered, and she quivered with the aftermath of the sensations that had so recently coursed through her systems.

"'Bee?" she asked. "What happened?" Bumblebee put a hand under her head and helped her to sit up.

"You offlined, Sam, it's the greatest compliment you can pay a partner. Thank you." Bumblebee said.

"Well, you're welcome, but I wasn't exactly in that much control of the situation." Sam said.

"I didn't know you were so Primus-damned sensitive, Sam, you're readiness for Sparkmerge took me by surprise, I was hard-pressed to ready myself before your Spark took the initiative!" Bumblebee chuckled. If Sam could have blushed, she would have done, for she knew human males could have a similar problem.

"Ah, God, Bee, you mean I came too soon? _Shit!"_ she said. "Sorry, buddy."

"Doesn't mean we can't try again, you said so yourself." said Bumblebee, putting a hand on Sam's arm. "We can ready me first, to make it less rushed. Start on my neck and shoulders, Sam, and let's see if we can improve on that." Sam sighed.

"You can _try_, but I'm not sure if _anything_ can better what I just experienced." Sam said. Bumblebee chuckled again, using one hand to put one of Sam's hands on his neck, and using the other one to stroke Sam's own neck.

"Well, let's find out." Bumblebee said.

Sam was only too eager to comply.


	11. Chapter 11

_For the Race_

_Epilogue_

_A few months later…_

…_.he was a Sparkling again, and home, on Cybertron, and he could hear someone calling him, he turned to see Ironhide calling, holding his arms out, and he ran and threw himself into them, heard Ironhide chuckling as he lifted him up and held him tight……_

……_on another world, he got his first sight of organic life, and was amazed at the beauty of it as much as he was repelled by the sheer alienness of it, of the organic botanical and biological forms of life, remembered the awe as the beauty of it all overcame the alienness, the sense of wrongness……_

…_..he was watching from a distance as the young human walked down the street, aware that at this time he had no idea that this would be the human he would be protecting in a few years, hanging back and waiting to find some clue to whether this family was the right one, and if they were in possession of their ancestor's corrective lenses….._

…_.watching his human's scared face as he was sent off with the precious AllSpark tucked under his arm, and the pain of seeing his fear, having to let Ratchet and Ironhide protect him, as his ruined legs and blasted-off feet would not allow him to, and **that** hurting worse than the injury…._and then a buzzing started and then a flash of pain…

Sam reeled as she and Bumblebee broke their mutual interface, and the memories Bumblebee had shared with her dissipated.

"Well, _that _was certainly interesting, and went better than I thought it would." Bumblebee told Sam. Sam had shared with Bumblebee her memories of being human.

"Usually, you'd only get a few seconds of data before the pain set in, and unfortunately memories painful to one or both are the most common reason that interfacings are terminated early due to pain, as ours was. Don't worry, Sam, we can try whenever we feel like it, get used to each other. Don't try to rush it or feel that you'll fail if you can't keep up an interface, that was good for a first time, if what Ratchet had to say about it was anything to go by."

Sam became aware that outside her room door, there seemed to be a lot of noise. He knew there had been some new arrivals, and Prime, Ratchet, and Inferno had gone out to find them and render assistance if they could. Now there seemed to be a lot of noise going on outside, and a wordless databurst of joyful incredulity from Ironhide made Sam decide that whatever was going on now, perhaps she and Bumblebee should go and investigate.

They came out, but hadn't even turned the corner into the main corridor before they were met by Ratchet.

"Sam, do you remember how I explained that the AllSpark Essence obviously remade you because there were no femmes here on Earth, and it was obviously concerned for our continued existence?"

"Yeah?" Sam said.

"I'm sure you understand that the Essence, although powerful, and likely able to tell what Sparks were and were not still alight, cannot foretell the future?" Ratchet said.

"Yeah?" Sam said again, as Ratchet ran a scan.

"So, although it might have known some femmes may have still been alive, there was no guarantee they would get here. Accidents happen, and so do Decepticons. You _do_ understand, don't you, Sam?"

"I understand everything, _except_ what you are obviously trying to tell me, Ratch." said Sam, surprised at the verbal convolutions of the usually straight-talking medic.

"Sam, the new arrivals were femmes, and they say there are more femmes on the way. I'm sorry if it seems that you were altered by the Essence for nothing, but there was no way the Essence could have foreseen their survival and arrival here."

Sam had to admit, she _did_ feel a twinge of resentment, of what her life might have been like if this whole situation had not happened. However, she could also see Ratchet's point, and she had to admit that she was curious to see what the other femmes looked like.

"Okay, but can I see them anyway, just to introduce myself?" Sam asked.

"Okay, Sam, they're in the corridor." Ratchet said. Sam and Bumblebee turned to corner, and immediately the cause for the noise was apparent.

Optimus was holding a stunning pink/peach coloured femme up by her waist in both of his hands. Her hands were braced on his shoulders as he spun her around in a tight circle. Beyond him, Ironhide had his arms all but welded about a slim but strong-looking royal blue femme. Hers were equally firmly clinging to his shoulders, and their lips were as securely locked to each other as their arms were around each other, Both of them had their optics shuttered, and it was clear to Sam that as far as the pair was concerned, the rest of the Base, and indeed the world, had temporarily ceased to exist.

The third arrival, a striking green femme, had Powerglide backed up against the wall, and appeared to be doing her very best to kiss him until he offlined. The fourth, an orange and red femme, was standing off to one side, watching Chromia and Ironhide.

It was the femme Optimus was whirling about who spotted Sam. She squeezed Optimus' shoulders and said "Who's the new girl, Optimus? I don't think we've met before."

Optimus stopped his gyrations, putting down the femme and putting out one hand to steady her, and the other to steady himself.

"Sam, meet Elita-One, my Sparkmate. Elita, meet Sam, and the circumstances of _her_ existence can be explained to you by Ratchet when he gives you your routine medical exam." Optimus told her. "After all, he was present at her enSparkment, even if it _was_ a rather unusual one."

"Sir, Arcee and Firestar have called to say they are on their way. They are approaching your solar system, and expect to be planetside within the week." Elita said. "Myself, Chromia, Moonracer, and Flareup over there just got here a bit sooner, sir." Elita told him.

"Elita, I know Sam is small, but do you think you could try her as part of your team?" Optimus asked. She's already had to fight off Starscream twice, and I think I'd feel her safety was more secure if she joined your team." Elita looked Sam over with a calculating eye, assessing her form's strengths and weaknesses.

"We'll see, Arcee may be small, but she's one of our more lethal warriors." said Elita. "With training, I don't see any current problems with her shaping up as another member of our all-femme Decepticon hunters. When the others turn up, we'll head out on a shakedown mission, to find our way around, and maybe we can deal with that Barricade character you've told us about, and we'll see how well she integrates."

"Oh no, you're _not_ taking Sam Decepticon-hunting next week!" Ratchet said, scowling. Elita gave him an equally daunting scowl back.

"Why not?" she asked.

"Health and safety grounds!" growled Ratchet. "With the AllSpark gone, we've had to fall back on less - _conventional - _methods of reproduction." he said. Elita scowled even more, and Ratchet actually took a step back.

"_If you think we femmes are going to all stay in Base to act as replacement AllSparks, medic, you are __**very**__ much mistaken!" _she said, in a voice that was so cold that Sam was surprised it wasn't freezing the air around her.

"No, it's not that." Ratchet said. "You are _not_ taking one of my patients out of the base, and she _is_ now my patient, in light of the fact that my scans show that _she is carrying_!"

"Uhh, I _am_?" asked Sam.

"Yes, you are." said Ratchet. "For your and your sparkling's safety, you are confined to base until it goes into its own body." Ratchjet said.

"Oh, that's understandable." said Elita. "Why didn't you just say so at the time?"

Sam and Bumblebee just looked at each other with glowing optics, and then they moved over to each other, and embraced.


	12. Chapter 12

For The Race

Interlude

**About a year and a half previously.**

"Mrs Witwicky, if you would follow me, I have your weapon waiting for you in my armoury, as promised." Ironhide told Judy as she went into the base. He beckoned her, and she said to Ron "I'll be with you in a moment."

Ron well remembered that Ironhide had promised to make Judy Witwicky a duranium-alloy "whacking stick" to replace the baseball bat that Sector Seven had taken off her back in July. When she had called to find out how it was going, she had been incensed to find out that Ironhide had been making a joke. She had, by all accounts, given him a stiff talking-to fit to make his audio receivers curl, and Ironhide had promptly asked her to go to the base. He had taken fingerprints and hand casts, found out, with Ratchet's aid, how much strength she possessed in her upper arms, and had called her earlier that day to tell her that it was ready.

"Where's Sam?" she asked the big mech, who, since the phone call, seemed oddly compliant when faced with Sam's human mother.

"Sam is out on a drive with Bumblebee." he said. "She should be in soon, we are expecting her return within the hour." Judy shook her head.

"It's still odd for me to call my son 'she'. I'm never going to properly get used to it." she said.

As they turned into the armoury, Ironhide reached down and put one of his big hands down to allow Judy to step into it. She did so, without a qualm, and Ironhide's already significant respect for this small, but vocal and brave human woman went up another notch. He carefully lifted her to a point where she could walk off his hand and onto his weapons table, which only contained a carefully-crafted, ergonomically designed club, built with a handle specifically shaped for Judy's hands. She picked it up, and gave it a couple of experimental swings.

"It's heavier than I thought it would be." she said.

"With practice, your arms will strengthen, it is of an appropriate weight that your arm strength and it's own momentum will combine to make it as effective as possible, and hit with a good amount of force. If you want, I can set up a practice area with statues and models and structures for you to attack with it."

"Why, thank you, Mr Ironhide." she said.

"You are very welcome, Mrs Witwicky." Ironhide said. "May I suggest-" Whatever Ironhide was about to suggest went unsaid as his optics briefly dimmed.

"Sam!" he cried in alarm.

"What is it? Tell me, I'm his mother!" she said.

"Bumblebee has just called, they're heading for the base, but they are being pursued by Starscream!" he said.

"Then what are we waiting for?" Judy said, stepping back into his hand. "Let's go!"

oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo oOo

Both Sam and Bumblebee were in car form, and heading for the Autobot base at a speed well above the legal limit, but it was useless: Starscream's top speed was Mach 3, and it was easy for him to catch them up, transform, and take a vicious swipe at Bumblebee. The yellow Camaro was flipped twice before Bumblebee's survival instinct prompted him to transform, and by then, Starscream had gone after Sam and had done the same thing, flipping the pale blue Aveo. She, too rolled a bit and transformed into robot form, which was just what Starscream was waiting for: he was hovering above Sam in robot form himself, and grabbed one of Sam's lower arms, just below the elbows, in each hand, holding her arms out so she could not bring her cannons to bear on him.

"Got you!" he sneered, angling upwards. Sam was unable to use her cannons, and Starscream's hands were just above the level of her blades, but Sam knew she could not let Starscream get away with her. She only had one weapon left to her, and at this height it could prove fatal to her, but as far as Sam was concerned, death was preferable to the alternative.

She activated her EMP generator.

It didn't knock Starscream out completely, neither did it make him release Sam, but it _did_ make him lose altitude, until they were only about thirty feet from the ground, and it _did_ seem to be affecting his equilibrium: Starscream wavered dangerously. Sam was about to give him another blast when a blur of red and a blur of yellow leaped from the ground and managed to tackle him to the ground: this did make Starscream release Sam, who fell into a protective roll and came to his feet, scared and shaken, but unharmed.

"Didn't your parental units ever teach you about respecting femmes?" said Sideswipe, who was kneeling hard on Starscream's left wing/shoulder, holding down his left arm.

"You're messing with our Sam, and we can't let you do _that_, Screamer, can we?" asked Sunstreaker, who was sat on his right wing/shoulder and holding down the corresponding arm. "So, how are we going to punish you _this_ time? I see the ants didn't teach you enough, I wonder if we can obtain a big hornet's nest?"

"No, no, no more organic things up my tailpipes!" pleaded Starscream.

"What about my cannons? I'll blow your aft to the Pit _myself_!" snarled Ironhide, who had reached where the Twins had managed to ground Starscream, which wasn't too far from the Autobot base. Ironhide put Judy down and went over to Sam. "Are you all right?" he asked.

"Yes, I am." said Sam. "So's Bumblebee, by the looks of things." said Sam as a battered but functional and severely torqued Bumblebee came into view. As he saw Starscream being held down by the Twins, he dropped his battle mask and activated his cannon. Starscream saw and began struggling again, but to no avail.

"Don't even _think_ about it! Keep him pinned down you two, but he's _mine_!" came a commanding human female voice. Judy Witwicky, brandishing her new weapon, came over.

Starscream took one look at the diminutive human femme and laughed.

"_You? _You can't hurt _me! _I am Starscream, leader of the Decepticons, and who might _you_ be, fleshling worm?" he demanded, laughing.

"I'm Sam's _mother_." she said. "_You_ are the most bedraggled, _miserable _excuse for a Cybertronian I have _ever_ seen! You are the _worst_ piece of flying scrap metal I have _ever_ had the misfortune to lay my eyes on! You're not fit to lead a _kindergarten class_!" Starscream's laughter had began to fade in the face of Judy's fury. She hadn't finished, either.

"You have_ got _to be the biggest fragging sparkling of a _glitch_ I have _ever_ encountered, and I am going to beat the _scrap_ out of you, you flying rust-pile!" Hold him, you two, I'm coming up!" She stalked purposefully towards Starscream's shoulders.

Bumblebee was shocked. "Where did she learn _that _sort of language from? Has she been hanging around Ratchet recently? Or the Twins?" he asked.

Ironhide, trying to conceal a grin said "Whoops! I must learn to keep my vocal processor shut around any life-form less than twenty thousand years old." However, Ironhide looked far from repentant.

Sideswipe lifted Judy up onto Starscream's back, and put her down carefully.

"He's restrained, and ready for you." he told her.

"Wonderful!" she said, brandishing her new weapon. "Hey, Ironhide, it's time I tested this, don't you think?" she asked. Ironhide grinned.

"I think it's the _perfect_ time for you to give it a try, Mrs Witwicky."

"_Right!" _said Judy, and raised the "whacking stick" over her head.

With a resounding clang, she brought it down hard on Starscream's head. The plating actually dented, and Starscream yelled.

"Ow! That _hurt_!"

"Good! It was _meant_ to!" she said, and repeated her strike on a slightly different area. Starscream cried out again. "Try to rape and kidnap _my_ daughter would you? Take that! And that as well!" She hit him again, and he screamed, but Judy just kept on attacking him. She didn't just confine her strikes to his head, but hit his neck, his wings, his back and his aft. Each hit raised a cry from Starscream. After twenty minutes, he was screaming and pleading to be released, begging the Autobots to get this mad human femme off him.

It was Sam who called a halt to it. She stooped. "Mom, that's enough. Let him go."

"Why should I?" she snarled. "I still have plenty of energy and anger left!"

"Because if you let him go back to the others, perhaps his condition, and the tale he'll tell, will deter any of the others from coming after me, but if we kill him, whoever becomes the next leader may try again!" she said. "Please, Mom."

Judy sagged. "Okay, Sam, take me back to the base." Sam put out his hands and clasped his mother to him, and they all walked back in. Sideswipe and Sunstreaker made sure everyone else was in, before releasing Starscream, who flew off, crying out and wavering in the air as his badly-dented wings took the strain of his weight. The Twins went into the base too.

"Starscream obviously doesn't know that the most dangerous thing you can do in the presence of a femme is to threaten its sparkling, no matter how grown-up that sparkling is." chuckled Ironhide.

Mrs Witwicky?" said Sideswipe.

"Yes?" she said, raising her whacking-stick a little.

"Remind me _never_ to get on your wrong side." Sideswipe said. Judy just gave him a wolfish smile.

"So, Mrs Witwicky, is your weapon satisfactory?" Ironhide asked her. Judy smiled even more wolfishly.

"Oh yes, Ironhide, _most_ satisfactory." she said, hefting it again.


End file.
